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MERRILLVILLE — In recent years, it was common for Bon Aire Lake to be half covered with algae each summer. That's no longer the case, thanks to tilapia.
For the last three years, the Merrillville Stormwater Utility has stocked the lake, located west of Taft Street and south of 57th Avenue, with tilapia, and the fish spend their summer eating the algae in the water.
“This is the best the lake has ever looked,” resident Bob Cotton said. “This is their third year. They not only eat the algae, but they prevent it from coming back the following year.”
Crews from Lake & Pond Biologists and Triple B Tilapia visited Bon Aire Lake on Thursday to release 560 pounds of tilapia in the water.
Ed Spanopoulos, owner of Lake & Pond Biologists in Chesterton, said a previous contractor was using chemicals to treat the water, but that wasn’t an effective method.
Treating the lake that way resulted in a massive amount of dead algae. When it decomposed, it used up oxygen and caused multiple fish kills in Bon Aire Lake.
Matt Lake, executive director of the Merrillville Stormwater Utility, said the cost of treating the lake hasn’t changed much since switching to tilapia, and it’s produced better results.
Lake said the fish will quickly reproduce, which means there will be a lot more in the water to address the algae growth.
“By the end of the summer, there will probably be close to a million tilapia in here,” said Jesse Mickley, aquatic specialist at Lake & Pond Biologists. “They spawn every month.”
The tilapia won’t survive the winter, so they must be restocked each year.
Birds will typically catch the fish in the fall, but there’s an opportunity for residents to catch some as well.
“The nice thing is if you can get out there in November when they’re just kind of hanging out and you can scoop them up and eat them,” Spanopoulos said.
He said he learned about using tilapia to treat ponds and lakes about 10 years ago. He said he found others in industry using the fish “all the time” in Texas other areas.
Spanopoulos wanted to try out the natural algae treatment and needed a supplier. That led to him meeting Jeff Martin, owner of the Triple B Tilapia farm in DeMotte.
He said they’ve developed a partnership that’s worked out well. Had they not collaborated, Lake & Pond Biologists would have to obtain live tilapia from Arkansas.
“There’s no way we could do all this out here without him,” Spanopoulos said.
1 of 35
Cobe Cup Car Cruise
Cars head North on State Road 55 toward Crown Point during the Cobe Cup Car Cruise on Saturday morning celebrating the 112th anniversary of the Cobe Cup Car Race.
Larry and Cheryl Morrone, of Crown Point, look over a 1931 Ford before the start of the Cobe Cup Car Cruise at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Saturday morning.
Paul Myers, of East Chicago, closes the hood on his 1929 Ford Model A before the start of the Cobe Cup Car Cruise on Saturday morning at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point.
4A baseball sectional semifinal: Lake Central vs. Munster
Lake Central's Owen Williams, center, reacts after hitting a triple and scoring when the throw to third went astray against Munster on Saturday during a 4A sectional semifinal at Highland High School.
4A baseball sectional semifinal: Lake Central vs. Munster
Lake Central's Garrett Weber, right, reacts with teammate Joey Carra after a home run against Munster on Saturday during a 4A sectional semifinal at Highland High School.
4A baseball sectional semifinal: Lake Central vs. Munster
Lake Central's Owen Williams, left, reacts with teammate Griffin Tobias after Williams tripled and scored on a throwing error against Munster on Saturday during a 4A sectional semifinal at Highland High School.
David Rorex, son of fallen Gary police officer Dorian Rorex, holds his one-year-old son Kylo as he taps the memorial wreath at the Gary Police Department Fallen Officers Memorial Friday.
Lake Central players celebrate their win after Mackenzie Calinski (14) scored in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 12-2 over Hammond Morton during the championship game of the 4A Sectional at Lake Central High School in St. John Friday.
Lake Central players raise the sectional championship trophy after beating Hammond Morton 12-2 in six inning in the championship game of 4A Sectional at Lake Central High School in St. John Friday.
Hammond Morton’s Ariana Figueroa (28) reacts after she and Analise Campos (14) both scored in the fourth inning during the 4A sectional championship game against Lake Central at Lake Central High School in St. John Friday.
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch lets Opportunity Enterprises client David Barnes, along with client Ethan Ruiz, enjoy the spotlight during Wednesday's groundbreaking ceremony for a new 16,000-square-foot respite center in Lake Eliza.
Lake Central’s Ryan Mauder takes the hand-off from Josh Berry for the final lap of the 4x400-meter relay final during the Boys Track Regional at Valparaiso High School Thursday evening.
Jason Janek's mother, Camellia Janek, and his goddaughter, Cassidy Janek-Mansfield, reflect by a tree that was planted in his memory at Whiting Lakefront Park.
Merrillville’s Taylor Jackson clears the next to last hurdle during the 100 Meter Hurdles during the Portage Girls Track Regional at Portage High School Tuesday evening.
Cars are lined up on Superior Drive as customers try out the Sonic Drive-In. One customer said he was in line for an hour to order a footlong chili/cheese dog but said it was worth wait.
Dedication ceremony for Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza at the Shrine of Christ’s Passion
Bishop Robert J. McClory blesses images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego on Sunday during the dedication of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza at the Shrine of Christ’s Passion in St. John.
Dedication ceremony for Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza at the Shrine of Christ’s Passion
Bishop Robert J. McClory of the Catholic Diocese of Gary meets with Eve Figueroa, of Chicago, Sunday following the dedication of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza.
Check out the Times' picks for the best images from the past week.
1 of 35
Cobe Cup Car Cruise
Cars head North on State Road 55 toward Crown Point during the Cobe Cup Car Cruise on Saturday morning celebrating the 112th anniversary of the Cobe Cup Car Race.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
Cobe Cup Car Cruise
Larry and Cheryl Morrone, of Crown Point, look over a 1931 Ford before the start of the Cobe Cup Car Cruise at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Saturday morning.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
Cobe Cup Car Cruise
Paul Myers, of East Chicago, closes the hood on his 1929 Ford Model A before the start of the Cobe Cup Car Cruise on Saturday morning at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
Cobe Cup Car Cruise
A worn American flag blows in the breeze on the antenna of a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 before the start of the Cobe Cup Car Cruise.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
Final graduation in historic LaCrosse High School
Veteran radio sportscaster Harold Welter addresses the graduating class of Lacrosse High School on Friday.
Steve Euvino
Final graduation in historic LaCrosse High School
Kyle Gorski, an honors graduate of LaCrosse High School, stands with his diploma during commencement Friday.
Steve Euvino
4A baseball sectional semifinal: Lake Central vs. Munster
Lake Central's Owen Williams, center, reacts after hitting a triple and scoring when the throw to third went astray against Munster on Saturday during a 4A sectional semifinal at Highland High School.
Kale Wilk, The Times
4A baseball sectional semifinal: Lake Central vs. Munster
Munster's Kevin Hall reacts after a single on Saturday during a 4A sectional semifinal at Highland High School.
Kale Wilk, The Times
4A baseball sectional semifinal: Lake Central vs. Munster
Lake Central's Garrett Weber, right, reacts with teammate Joey Carra after a home run against Munster on Saturday during a 4A sectional semifinal at Highland High School.
Kale Wilk, The Times
4A baseball sectional semifinal: Lake Central vs. Munster
Munster's dugout reacts after a home run by Jake Thometz on Saturday during a 4A sectional semifinal at Highland High School.
Kale Wilk, The Times
4A baseball sectional semifinal: Lake Central vs. Munster
Lake Central's Owen Williams, left, reacts with teammate Griffin Tobias after Williams tripled and scored on a throwing error against Munster on Saturday during a 4A sectional semifinal at Highland High School.
Kale Wilk, The Times
Gary police memorial service
K-9 officers join the Gary Police Department Fallen Officers Memorial Friday.
John J. Watkins, The Times
Gary police memorial service
Gary police department officers were joined by officers from other departments at the Gary Police Department Fallen Officers Memorial on Friday.
John J. Watkins, The Times
Gary police memorial service
David Rorex, son of fallen Gary police officer Dorian Rorex, holds his one-year-old son Kylo as he taps the memorial wreath at the Gary Police Department Fallen Officers Memorial Friday.
John J. Watkins, The Times
052822-spt-sbh-lc_1
Lake Central players celebrate their win after Mackenzie Calinski (14) scored in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 12-2 over Hammond Morton during the championship game of the 4A Sectional at Lake Central High School in St. John Friday.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
052822-spt-sbh-lc_3
Lake Central players raise the sectional championship trophy after beating Hammond Morton 12-2 in six inning in the championship game of 4A Sectional at Lake Central High School in St. John Friday.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
052822-spt-sbh-lc_11
Hammond Morton’s Ariana Figueroa (28) reacts after she and Analise Campos (14) both scored in the fourth inning during the 4A sectional championship game against Lake Central at Lake Central High School in St. John Friday.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
Neighborhood park seen as 'catalyst' for future growth
Kaiden Ballard, 5, uses the slide on the playground Thursday at Windrich Park at Jacobs Square in Hammond.
Steve Euvino, The Times
Lake Central High School commencement
Gabriel Bellar waves to family at the Lake Central High School commencement.
John J. Watkins, The Times
Lake Central High School commencement
Kaitlyn O'Drobinak wipes a tear away as she watches a Class of 2022 tribute video at the Lake Central High School commencement.
John J. Watkins, The Times
Lake Central High School commencement
Elizabeth Solis and Kyle Kennedy watch a Class of 2022 tribute video at the Lake Central High School commencement.
John J. Watkins, The Times
Lake Central High School commencement
Lake Central junior Lexi Crenshaw takes a selfie with graduating seniors.
John J. Watkins, The Times
OE breaks ground on respite facility
Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch lets Opportunity Enterprises client David Barnes, along with client Ethan Ruiz, enjoy the spotlight during Wednesday's groundbreaking ceremony for a new 16,000-square-foot respite center in Lake Eliza.
Doug Ross, The Times
052722-spt-btf-val_2
Boone Grove’s Jarrod Benkovich competes in the high jump during the Boys Track Regional at Valparaiso High School Thursday evening.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
052722-spt-btf-val_7
Lake Central’s Ryan Mauder takes the hand-off from Josh Berry for the final lap of the 4x400-meter relay final during the Boys Track Regional at Valparaiso High School Thursday evening.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
Family memorializes Jason Janek
Jason Janek's mother, Camellia Janek, and his goddaughter, Cassidy Janek-Mansfield, reflect by a tree that was planted in his memory at Whiting Lakefront Park.
John J. Watkins, The Times
Family memorializes Jason Janek
Jason Janek's name adorns a tree planted in his memory at Whiting Lakefront Park.
John J. Watkins, The Times
052522-spt-gtf-por_3
Kankakee Valley’s Emily Nannenga competes in the high jump Tuesday at the Portage Girls Track Regional at Portage High School.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
052522-spt-gtf-por_1
Merrillville’s Taylor Jackson clears the next to last hurdle during the 100 Meter Hurdles during the Portage Girls Track Regional at Portage High School Tuesday evening.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
052522-spt-gtf-por_6
Valparaiso’s Ayla Rice competes in the shot put during the Portage Girls Track Regional at Portage High School Tuesday evening.
Jeffrey D. Nicholls, The Times
Sonic Drive-In has its long-awaited opening Monday
Jessica Townsend delivers food to a customer at the new Sonic Drive-In on it's first day open.
John J. Watkins The Times
Sonic opening makes big boom in Crown Point
Cars are lined up on Superior Drive as customers try out the Sonic Drive-In. One customer said he was in line for an hour to order a footlong chili/cheese dog but said it was worth wait.
John J. Watkins, The Times
Dedication ceremony for Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza at the Shrine of Christ’s Passion
Bishop Robert J. McClory blesses images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego on Sunday during the dedication of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza at the Shrine of Christ’s Passion in St. John.
Steve Euvino
Dedication ceremony for Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza at the Shrine of Christ’s Passion
Bishop Robert J. McClory of the Catholic Diocese of Gary meets with Eve Figueroa, of Chicago, Sunday following the dedication of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza.
Steve Euvino
Dedication ceremony for Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza at the Shrine of Christ’s Passion
Members of the Xel-Ha Escuela de Danza process as Aztec dancers Sunday for the dedication of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Plaza.
The CLEAN Community Challenge started in the early 2000s as a way to recognize and reward communities that set goals and participate in activities to enhance the environment. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/merrillville/somethings-fishy-in-merrillville-lake/article_d2e86076-25d3-5b36-99f2-c3c8a1170a9e.html | 2022-06-04T17:15:16 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/merrillville/somethings-fishy-in-merrillville-lake/article_d2e86076-25d3-5b36-99f2-c3c8a1170a9e.html |
MICHIGAN CITY — Life in prison is being sought for an inmate accused of killing and seriously injuring two correctional officers in stabbings at Indiana State Prison last year.
Ty’metri Campbell is charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and prisoner possessing dangerous device or materials.
The LaPorte County prosecutor’s office also filed notice that life in prison without parole will be sought if Campbell is convicted of murder.
A hearing is scheduled June 10 to set a trial date in the case filed in LaPorte Superior Court 2.
Lt. Gene Lasco, 57, of LaPorte died from multiple stab wounds while Sgt. Padrick Schmitt, 22, of Lake Station was critically wounded in the knife attack in February 2021.
According to court documents, the 39-year-old Campbell somehow freed a hand out of one of the handcuffs he was wearing after taking a shower.
He pushed his way past a female correctional officer escorting him back to his cell.
She used her radio to alert other correctional officers that Campbell was on the loose.
Campbell was running down a stairwell when confronted by Schmitt, who was repeatedly stabbed by the inmate.
According to court documents, Campbell after reaching the main level was encountered by Lasco and stabbed him multiple times.
Court documents also revealed the female correctional officer pushed by Campbell stopped to try and slow the bleeding from a neck wound sustained by Lasco.
Campbell reemerged and holding more than one knife chased her.
The correctional officer ran inside a security cage and tried to shut the door but Campbell shoved his way in through the door.
She managed to escape by going inside an employee bathroom where other correctional officers were hiding with the door locked.
According to court documents, Campbell was moving in the direction of two other correctional officers with a knife in his hand when hit with pepper spray.
He dropped the knife and was tackled to the ground.
The two prison guards then regained control over Campbell, who stated “I’m sorry,” according to court documents.
According to court documents, Campbell told investigators he freed one of his hands by using a homemade handcuff key.
In explaining the motive, investigators said Campbell claimed he “felt possessed by a different entity” and believed people were out to harm or kill him, according to court documents.
LaPorte County Prosecutor John Lake said the charges weren’t filed until now because Campbell is already serving a 130-year prison sentence for a triple murder.
He said that allowed plenty of time for the investigation and other evidence-gathering procedures to be conducted as thoroughly as possible before prosecuting the case.
“Because he’s already incarcerated, he’s not going anywhere,” he said.
Lake said seeking the death penalty is still under consideration.
Campbell pleaded guilty to the fatal shootings of three men that occurred in 2002 in Indianapolis.
Gallery: Recent arrests booked into LaPorte County Jail
The city of LaPorte is challenging Norfolk Southern Railroad over its decision to take back a historic downtown train depot restored with $3.6 million in tax dollars.
When the 28 LaCrosse High School graduates left the gym after graduation Friday, they weren’t just starting another chapter in their lives. They were marking the closing chapter in a local landmark.
Professional sand sculptors from across the world will fashion massive, intricate and eye-popping sand sculptures on the beach in Michigan City this weekend.
Redevelopment Commission attorney Alan Sirinek said it’s not certain whether Franklin will be made two-way. This study simply looks at the feasibility.
LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd said it appears front tire on the driver's side blew, causing the truck to veer across a grassy median and both northbound lanes before hitting the house.
When the 28 LaCrosse High School graduates left the gym after graduation Friday, they weren’t just starting another chapter in their lives. They were marking the closing chapter in a local landmark. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte/charges-filed-in-fatal-attack-on-prison-guards/article_fda1ba0f-8a82-5bba-b8be-f581a6d683d0.html | 2022-06-04T17:15:22 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte/charges-filed-in-fatal-attack-on-prison-guards/article_fda1ba0f-8a82-5bba-b8be-f581a6d683d0.html |
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Dozens of wake surfers from around the country gathered at Winged Deer Park on Saturday.
Surfers came out to Boone Lake to take part in the first-ever ‘Appalachian Open Wake Surfing Competition.’
Riders of all skill levels came out to take part in the competition.
“There are people from all over the midwest, southeast, northeast and you should see some professional-level action and them some amateur grassroots action too. So, it’s something everybody of all skill levels can get involved in,” said Nate Singleton, a representative for CBK Watersports. “It doesn’t matter if you’re five or 65 there an opportunity for you to surf behind a boat and people here to teach it. The event is held here to benefit Operation Wake Surf which is a great foundation that benefits wounded servicemen and women.”
Event organizers say that Winged Deer Park was the perfect place to hold the competition and they hope to come back out next year. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/wake-surfing-competition-held-at-winged-deer-park/ | 2022-06-04T17:27:47 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/wake-surfing-competition-held-at-winged-deer-park/ |
DUNBAR, WV (WOWK)–The chief of the Dunbar Fire Department retired on Friday, calling his last day on the job a combination of “excitement, happiness and a little sadness too.”
Chris Thornhill led the department for the past five years but has been a firefighter since 1997.
“I’m proud to have been part of this great group of firefighters and thankful for the memories that will last a lifetime,” he said in a letter posted to the department’s Facebook page. “I’m super excited to be retiring but I will greatly miss the firehouse.”
Thornhill said a new chief would be named soon. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/dunbar-fire-chief-retires/ | 2022-06-04T17:32:40 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/dunbar-fire-chief-retires/ |
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK)—West Virginia’s Attorney General is warning consumers about secret or mystery shopper scams.
In a release. Patrick Morrisey’s office said that while mystery shopping is actually a legitimate way to earn money, scammers have been taking advantage of people wanting to make money as secret or mystery shoppers.
The scammers will set up fake websites, post newspaper ads and send emails claiming that secret shopping is an easy and free way to earn money.
Morrisey’s office says that fake mystery shopping companies will typically send a check for victims to deposit and then ask them to “shop” for gift cards. They will then ask victims to send them the cards or PIN codes or ask the victim to test a wire transfer service by asking them to send the money to someone else. The check will then be identified as fake, leaving the victim responsible for the money spent.
Other fake mystery shopping companies will ask consumers to pay program fees in order to participate. Legitimate companies will not ask for payment or pay upfront for shopping.
“Mystery shopping can be a valid way to make some extra money,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “But consumers need to have their wits about them or they can get ripped off.”
Morrisey’s office says that real secret shopper opportunities can be found through the mystery shopping trade group the Mystery Shopping Providers Association.
If you believe that you have been the victim of a secret shopper scam, you should contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 800-368-8808, the Eastern Panhandle Consumer Protection Office in Martinsburg at 304-267-0239 or visit the office online at www.wvago.gov. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/west-virginia-ag-warns-of-secret-shopper-scam/ | 2022-06-04T17:32:46 | 0 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/west-virginia-ag-warns-of-secret-shopper-scam/ |
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Car enthusiasts gathered at the Mall at Johnson City on Saturday morning for a good cause.
Spectators were able to come out to the show called ‘Cruisin for a Cause’ and browse a variety of cars and trucks.
Many people brought their unique rides out to the event. Even the drivable wooden truck built from scratch by a Jonesborough business owner made an appearance at the show.
There was no cost to guests who wanted to come and check out cars but there was a charge for those that entered cars into the show.
The event featured a live DJ, 50/50 Raffle, vendors and a backyard dunk tank.
There were a number of door prizes including gift cards, ETSU apparel and more.
This was the fifth annual ‘Cruisin for a Cause,’ which was sponsored by Dominion Senior Living. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/cruisin-for-a-cause-car-show-held-at-johnson-city-mall/ | 2022-06-04T17:46:41 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/cruisin-for-a-cause-car-show-held-at-johnson-city-mall/ |
Temporary flood advisory issued for southern area of Brevard County Saturday afternoon
MELBOURNE — Brevard County is expected to see less rainfall than initially predicted over the course of Saturday and Sunday as the remnants of a hurricane that landed on the Pacific Coast of Mexico at the end of May sweep across the state.
While the county was still under a tropical storm warning, the flood watch was lifted Saturday morning, said Matt Volkmer, science and operations officer at the National Weather Service base in Melbourne.
The county could expect to see about 1 to 2 inches of rain over the course of the storm, Volkmer said — a decrease from previous predictions.
Tracking the storm: Tropical storm warnings remain in effect although the system has deteriorated
"The threat looks like it's diminishing overall for at least sustained tropical-storm winds," Volkmer said. "We may see some strong wind gusts (with) some of these shower bands that move on shore, up to 35 to 40 miles per hour with some of these shower bands that move through the area today, but it looks like overall, the wind threat is decreasing with the system."
The system, which failed to form into a tropical depression or storm as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico, moved through the Naples and Fort Myers area Saturday morning and was sweeping over areas from Lake Okeechobee east, Volkmer said. The system was predicted to cross the Treasure Coast during the late afternoon Saturday before moving out into the Atlantic, where forecasters predict it may regenerate into a tropical storm.
"Those stronger winds and rain are going to be kind of out ahead of the (storm's) low center, so once a low passes us by late afternoon and evening, the threat of that rainfall and stronger winds will diminish a little bit," Volkmer said.
A flood advisory was in effect Saturday afternoon until 2:45 p.m. for the southern portion of Brevard County, as well as Indian River and St. Lucie counties. Minor flooding was ongoing, NWS said.
While the flood watch was lifted for Brevard County, NWS officials warned that some areas could still see minor flooding. They added that a primary concern during the storm would be rough surf and hazardous marine conditions.
Brevard County Emergency Management Office cautioned on Twitter that any property in Florida could experience flooding and to watch for rising waters along the Indian River, Banana River, St. John's River, Mosquito Lagoon, Sykes Creek and Newfound Harbor.
Don Walker, Brevard Emergency Management spokesperson, said Brevard County Fire Rescue was prepared to respond if any incidents arose because of the storm. However, with the flood watch lifted, they weren't anticipating any weather-related issues.
Cmdr. Jeff Spears of Palm Bay Police Department said the department is hoping community members travel safely during the storm. Police are monitoring the storm in case anything worsens, he said. | https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/06/04/potential-tropical-cyclone-one-torrential-rain-space-coast-friday-saturday-sunday/7496132001/ | 2022-06-04T17:48:02 | 1 | https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/06/04/potential-tropical-cyclone-one-torrential-rain-space-coast-friday-saturday-sunday/7496132001/ |
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11 endangered Mexican wolf pups released in Arizona, New Mexico
11 PHOTOS | https://www.azcentral.com/picture-gallery/news/local/arizona-environment/2022/06/04/photos-endangered-mexican-wolf-pups-released-into-wild/7501030001/ | 2022-06-04T17:48:29 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/picture-gallery/news/local/arizona-environment/2022/06/04/photos-endangered-mexican-wolf-pups-released-into-wild/7501030001/ |
11 Mexican gray wolf pups are released into the wild. Will it help the species recover?
Federal wildlife managers have released 11 endangered Mexican wolf pups into the wild, injecting a much-needed genetic boost to an otherwise limited gene pool.
The effort is a part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's cross-fostering program that mixes captive-born pups with wild ones as mother wolves give birth in the spring.
While the process of cross-fostering involves numerous agencies and detailed planning, the concept is straightforward. Captive-born wolf pups are removed from their natal dens and placed into surrogate, wild families.
But the on-the-ground work can still be tricky. Wildlife managers must remove the pups from their biological families, nurse them during transport, collect blood samples for further research and then put them into wild dens, sometimes with adult wolves still in them.
It’s done to help populations thrive. Genetic diversity is a significant measure of success for the Mexican wolf recovery program. Since there were only seven founding individuals, the species suffers from a dangerously low gene pool. According to some genetic research, each wild Mexican wolf is nearly as closely related as siblings.
The federal agency, along with state wildlife managers, has introduced cross-fostered pups into wild dens since 2014. Last year, teams released 22 captive pups into the wild. Because their population has been selectively bred, the pups bring higher genetic diversity.
Wildlife biologists say the future of both Mexican wolves and the recovery plans meant to save them rests on such injections of new blood. More genetic diversity means more resilience and adaptability in the face of a changing climate and environment.
“We all coordinated together to work towards a common goal, just like it has been in previous years," said John Oakleaf, the Mexican wolf field projects coordinator for USFWS. "I think we do a tremendous job. One thing that was different this year from previous years was that all the cross fosters took place in a 15-day window. So it was a really tight window of work.”
Where the pups come from
Wolves are managed on the ground among state, federal and tribal partners, Oakleaf said. But zoos and conservation programs from across the country, including the Chicago Zoo and the Wolf Conservation Center in New York, helped with the breeding.
The pups were placed into five wild packs during a three-week period in the Mexican wolf experimental population area, inside a tightly enforced boundary south of Interstate 40 that stretches across the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in Arizona and the Gila National Forest in New Mexico.
The process begins during the summer when wildlife managers select captive breeding pairs based on the Mexican wolf species survival plan and software developed for species management, according to Maggie Howell, the executive director of the Wolf Conservation Center. The best pairs have low inbreeding coefficients.
What comes next is up to the wolves. The pairs are placed into enclosures together and if there's chemistry, they'll mate.
This is the second year the New York-based conservation center has participated in the program. It was able to provide one pup, a female named Crumbo, after Kim Crumbo, the conservationist who mysteriously disappeared in Yellowstone National Park last fall.
"He was just a huge proponent of rewilding and compassionate conservation," Howell said. "A great ambassador that everyone can get behind and root for and just bring hope to the program itself and hopefully rewild our world, some hearts and minds."
Closer to home, the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale provided two pups. Of the five partners, the center's was the only litter to go to an Arizona pack.
The Southwest Center has been a part of the species' survival program for years but most of its wolves are retired, too old to reproduce and too naive to be released into the wild. Jamie Haas, who is the marketing and education coordinator for the center, jokes that they are the Sun City East for Mexican gray wolves.
As a rescue and sanctuary, this is the first time the center has bred Mexican wolves. USFWS coordinated the matching of the parents-to-be. Melly and Moonlight, an older female and male, gave birth on April 30. The newborn pups were given about a week before they would be swapped into the wild litter.
Once wildlife managers are ready to relocate the pups, they send out another team to locate viable dens. Before releasing the adoptees-to-be, they took blood samples for genetic testing. This will allow them to identify the wolves as they mature.
At the den, the team sneaks the captive-born pups into the litter, mixing the scent of the wild pups in with the new littermates.
The pups' eyes are still closed at that age, which reduces stress, but it's also when the foster mothers are most likely to accept them, Oakleaf said. While the new recruits don’t go totally unnoticed, the mother’s maternal instincts kick in. For being so family oriented, the biological mothers also don’t seem too fazed by the process.
"They were a little stressed out for a few days, but I think up to five days later, it's back to completely standard behavior," Haas said. "They were both lying in their favorite spot, in the shade, on top of one of their wolf houses in their enclosure. So we are back to business as usual, which is really encouraging."
Previous releases:20 Mexican gray wolf pups are placed into the wild
Why wolf pups are cross-fostered
Inbreeding has been a concern for wildlife biologists since the wolf recovery program began in 1998. While wild wolves generally avoid mating with direct family members, genetic diversity was limited from the beginning. It took careful planning to ensure that new mates are as genetically distinct as possible, something easily done in a captive environment, but less so in the wild.
The genetic rescue of Mexican wolves has been a marker of success for the program, but it was also an issue raised in a previous lawsuit. Conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Earth Justice and Defenders of Wildlife, have advocated for years that wildlife agencies should do a better job of prioritizing genetic diversity.
Last year, the federal agency released a draft regulatory rule following a 2018 court order that ordered the agency to remedy several problems with the management rule, called the 10(j) experimental population rule.
To comply with the order, the agency has proposed adding a way to expand and measure genetic health. It’s essentially a captive-born release quota that biologists would like to see until 2030. This year, they would like to see at least nine pups survive to breeding age, a number that increases to 22 by 2030.
Species recovery:Federal agency outlines a plan to curb illegal killings of the Mexican gray wolf
Scientists say there are problems with the program
Independent scientists say there is a better way to measure genetic diversity. Mexican gray wolves are one of the most closely monitored wolf populations in the world. There are studbooks that would allow managers to identify the uniqueness of each wolf, so in theory, the wildlife agencies could release genetically distinct wolves into the wild. It's used for other imperiled species like California condors and black-footed ferrets.
Another strategy, scientists say, could be expanding the area where wolves roam to allow for more natural exchange. The current area, while expanded in 2015, still isolates packs.
Some advocacy groups argue that there should be large areas that allow for natural genetic exchange. In the natural world, wolf populations from Mexico to Canada would have co-mingled and mixed, allowing for genetic exchange. That has been cut off by northern boundary of Interstate 40.
"I think if they expanded the area in which they release wolves, that would give them the opportunity to select genetically healthy individuals from the captive population," said Carlos Caroll, a wolf biologist who served on the 2012 recovery team. "Actually releasing adult pairs with pups would give them a lot more scope to increase the diversity in the population."
The fear, Oakleaf said, is that captive wolves would be more likely to run into conflict with people since they could be more habituated. The point of using wild wolves as surrogates should instill a wariness of people, he added.
Recovery area:Wildlife officials drew a line at I-40 for Mexican gray wolves but has it hurt recovery?
Genetically valuable wolves are being killed
Conservation advocates are also alarmed by the killing of genetically valuable adult wolves after claims of predation on cattle. Since the recovery program began, at least 100 wolves have been killed by federal officials at the behest of ranchers who claim the wolves prey on cattle. Last year, two wolves were illegally shot; one died, the other lost a leg to amputation.
But some of the killings are sanctioned by the government. A recent investigation into predation claims in New Mexico, led by the Western Watershed Project and the Intercept, alleged that many claims were bungled and that killing occurred without thorough investigations into whether wolves were actually killing the cattle. In some instances, federal officials approved of the killings with limited information.
The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity recently authored a letter that said cross-fostering offers little genetic rescue, the goal of the cross-fostering program.
There are now 196 Mexican wolves in the wild, a small increase from last year's 186. So far, with the new additions, 83 cross-fostered puppies have been released in the wild, yet the survival rate has been low.
Of the 72 released as of last year, only 13 are known to be alive, and only four of them have reproduced. From those litters, only one of the descendants is known to be alive today.
Such small numbers are a stark reminder of how fragile the burgeoning population is and how valuable each additional pack member can be. While the recent news release said survival is greater than 50%, information provided to the Center for Biological Diversity says that it's actually lower.
What this means for wolf conservation
Michael Robinson, who works on wolf issues for the Center for Biological Diversity, said to boost the odds for pups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should return to releasing well-bonded family packs consisting of an adult female and male together that have been together with their pups for at least six months.
"That was more successful than the fostering efforts," Robinson said. "(Wildlife managers) ended the practice because it was successful. The livestock industry ... demanded meetings with high-level officials and congressmen to oppose wolf recovery."
For USFWS, managing the Mexican wolf program has been a delicate balance of fostering recovery without drawing the ire of influential livestock groups and politicians who oppose wolf recovery. Oakleaf said it's more palatable for those who live with wolves to add pups to existing dens, where wolves already live, rather than putting them into new areas.
To help improve genetics and the overall population, cross-fostering appears to be the best the agency can do. While this year's releases were half of last year's, wildlife officials are touting it as a success. New babies added to the wild offer hope that there's a future for the species and recovery.
"I think looking forward, we'll continue cross-fosters and we'll continue to kind of maximize our ability or the numbers that we can get out," Oakleaf said. "We've seen some movement across the border so I'm hopeful that at some point, the two populations will be connected."
Lindsey Botts is an environmental reporter for The Arizona Republic/azcentral. Follow his reporting on Twitter at @lkbotts and Lkbotts on Instagram. Tell him about stories at lindsey.botts@azcentral.com
Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Support local journalism. Start your online subscription. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2022/06/04/mexican-wolf-pups-placed-dens-arizona-new-mexico/7474913001/ | 2022-06-04T17:48:31 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2022/06/04/mexican-wolf-pups-placed-dens-arizona-new-mexico/7474913001/ |
Each week The Pantagraph profiles a different community member. Know someone we should talk to? Email kheather@pantagraph.com.
Name: Brandt Parsley
Position: Bloomington Police Department public information officer
1. How have the first nine weeks on the job gone so far?
So far it has been very enjoyable and busy. I needed a very steep learning curve following Sgt. John Fermon, who had done an excellent job and set a high bar. I hope to maintain the same level of professionalism and quality work which he exhibited.
2. What did you do prior to this position?
Prior to this position, I graduated from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. I worked at the Mt. Carmel Police Department in southern Illinois for five years. In January 2013, I was hired by the Bloomington Police Department. At BPD, I worked all three patrol shifts prior to taking the public information officer position. In that time, I have been a field training officer, crime scene technician, and a standard field sobriety test instructor.
3. In what ways can you help BPD foster closer relationships with community members?
Understanding society's increasing use of social media, the PIO position can help establish closer relationships with the community through those various forums. The position provides the public unprecedented access to the police department. On an almost daily basis, we try to post information about what our officers have been doing in the community, events we are going to be at, and providing information to help keep everyone safe. The goal is to have the community feel the police department represents them and hears their concerns. We want them to know that when they need us, we are a phone call, email or Facebook message away. We want to be truly connected with the community.
4. What are the initiatives of BPD's new Community Engagement Unit?
The main goals of the community engagement unit are to initiate new relationships, strengthen current relationships, provide a direct line of communication to the community, promote trust and respectability, and education. This unit allows BPD to take the initiative on going out into the community and engaging in positive, non-enforcement situations.
5. How has the 30x30 initiative gone since Bloomington police signed on to the effort last November?
We have made a conscious effort to recruit more women applicants. We have formed a diverse recruitment team in the hopes to provide women applicants a higher level of comfortability during the recruiting process. The hiring process has been streamlined to make applying very user-friendly, especially for those applying online. We have added new locations to our recruiting strategy. For instance, we sent three recruiters to the annual law enforcement women's conference, which was an event we had never recruited at before. Hopefully there will be more such events where we get the opportunity to recruit several women applicants. Even with the change in recruiting strategies, we are still seeing a rather small number of women applying. This seems to be an issue that is arising for all agencies. Applications in general have significantly dropped over the last several years. The hope is with the new strategies, we can attract more women applicants.
Top 20 highest-paid city of Bloomington employees
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Paul Williams | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/5-questions-with-brandt-parsley-bloomington-police-public-information-officer/article_678ef990-e358-11ec-b19c-6bad07662ee6.html | 2022-06-04T17:49:13 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/5-questions-with-brandt-parsley-bloomington-police-public-information-officer/article_678ef990-e358-11ec-b19c-6bad07662ee6.html |
MCLEAN — John Yates has been a collector ever since he can remember.
Stamps. Coins. Matchbox cars.
But as he got older, his interest shifted toward video and arcade games — and the collection kept growing. Now Yates, 53, owns over 1,500 arcade machines, with about 150 on display in his playable arcade museum aptly named Arcadia, 107 S. Hamilton St., McLean.
“It’s kind of my parents' fault because they would let me go to the arcade all the time but they wouldn't give me any money to play. They said it was a waste of money,” he said. “So I would stand around the arcade for hours with my friends and watch them play games, and it just created this pent-up desire to play games.”
In 1985, during Yates' senior year of high school, he bought his first game cabinet from the lone local arcade. It was a "Star Trek" game developed by Sega.
Today, his sprawling collection includes older classics like "Burger Time" and "Donkey Kong," along with more recent titles like "Time Crisis" and "Crazy Taxi."
Video games are a relatively new entertainment medium, with the first one created in 1958, but they are a hot one. Sales and interest have increased year over year, picking up even more during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today's technology means that video games come on all forms and devices — from "Candy Crush" on smartphones to complex, cinematic sagas like "The Last of Us" to online multiplayer games that allow strangers or distant friends to play together.
It's a lucrative industry. Overall total consumer spending on video games in the U.S. totaled $60.4 billion in 2021, according to data released by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and The NPD Group, a global market information company. That marks an 8% increase from $55.9 billion in 2020.
An estimated 227 million Americans of all ages play video games, with 55% of those surveyed having played more during the pandemic, according to the ESA’s annual industry report.
As the industry rapidly evolves, support for the preservation of video games as historical artifacts lags behind more developed media, like music and film.
“They’re an important part of understanding who we are as part of the recreational landscape,” said Tracy Popp, digital preservation coordinator at the University of Illinois Library. “When you think about these older games as nostalgia pieces, but you can look at the technology and … the social aspects or even bringing this technology into the home and how that plays into an understand of recreation across the board.”
In Central Illinois, a patchwork of preservation efforts exists between personal collections and university libraries. The latter catalogs bits of information and physical pieces not only to extend the life of games, but also to use them as cultural examples in explaining parts of modern history.
Preservation efforts
Video game preservation takes many forms. It can include archives of development source code and art assets, physical or digital copies of games and related print materials, and maintenance of specialized hardware such as video game consoles and arcade cabinets. Some older games must be accessed through emulators, which can simulate outdated hardware.
Popp said she primarily works in recovering and migrating content from a variety of legacy computer media including floppy disks, Zip disks and data tapes so they can be assessed for damage and moved over to the university’s digital preservation repository.
“We’ll migrate this off of the storage medium because those are obsolescent just due to age and you need the hardware and software in order to be able to decode or recover the bits from the disk,” Popp said. “It’s kind of a matter of time of trying to get stuff off while we can read it while we have the hardware.”
Some obstacles include pieces of hardware dematerializing due to age or poor handling, or developers disappearing or no longer supporting certain software. In the wider scope of video game preservation, however, the biggest issue is copyright law.
“Those physical objects were never designed with historical preservation in mind,” said Josh Newport, math and science librarian at Milner Library at Illinois State University. “They were designed to be used over years, not decades, let alone centuries … so the problem there is that moving it to another storage medium to preserve it could be seen as copyright infringement, because it’s an illegal copy of that game.”
Passed by Congress in 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was created to protect copyright holders from online theft and piracy. It criminalizes the manufacturing and distribution of tools designed to circumvent copyright protections — which creates additional hurdles for archivists who seek to preserve and share playable copies of aging games.
U.S. law allows exemptions to copyright protection for some specific uses, like academic research. The U.S. Copyright Office reviews proposals for exemptions every three years, and in 2018, it granted an exemption that allowed academics to preserve server-based games, like massively multiplayer online games, that are no longer commercially available.
But last year, a push to allow remote access to those games failed. It faced opposition from video game publishers, represented by the ESA, which noted that companies may want to reimagine or reissue their older games on modern platforms.
“There are discussions between various groups and legal entities, companies and so forth looking to make an exception. They aren’t going to be legal for the general public ever but maybe they will make an exception for a museum or something to be able to store and archive that game to present to future generations,” Newport said. “In order for preservation to really be successful, there’s going to have to be a partnership with the industry and that isn't really happening now.”
The University of Illinois Library partnered with the Library of Congress and other universities in a project called Preserving Virtual Worlds from 2008 to 2010. The effort explored a range of games from "Spacewar!," a 1962 space combat video game that is known to be the first video game to be played on multiple computers, to "Second Life," a 2003 online virtual world allowing users to interact with each other in various settings.
University of Illinois reference librarian David Ward said they sought methods that could be used for preserving these games. Ultimately, they found some issues with digital storage and ownership tracking, but most of the challenges were related to copyright law.
Following that project, Ward said that he, Popp and a small team worked to collect video game data and then put that data into the university’s digital preservation repository, along with descriptions of the files, the games themselves and the gameplay experience.
Most of the games collected were acquired through gifts or purchases from private sellers, he said.
Video game box art and manuals are comparatively easy to find online. But try finding, say, the original Nintendo Entertainment System’s Zapper Light Gun used for "Duck Hunt," a 1984 light gun shooter game.
“It’s very haphazard what you do and don’t get,” Ward said. “It’s a combination of the game itself and then all of the accompanying material. Part of it is also thinking about what we don’t have, like the original boxes, and if you’re really thinking about what the full representation is, there’s a number of physical items that go along as well as the actual game file.”
Private collections, storefronts
At Arcadia in McLean, Yates has found that keeping older machines operational can be less challenging than some newer models. That's because older arcade machines operate on their own circuit boards, while newer machines tend to use personal computers that can become outdated due to a lack of software support.
“We all know how long an installation of Windows lasts, and then you have RAM that goes bad or your hard drives stop working and you can’t get a replacement because no one makes 20-megabyte hard drives anymore,” Yates said. “It can be a nightmare keeping the newer stuff working.”
Although the pandemic brought an increase in video game sales and players nationally, Yates said his arcade didn't see the same uptick.
Recently, he added arcade-themed Airbnb homes to the operation as a way to incorporate the vast inventory of machines and create a mini-vacation spot in McLean. There are also plans to unveil another arcade, Arcadia Unlimited, that will charge a fee to play on all the machines instead of the current coin-to-operate model.
“We’ve stayed away from that for a bit because it kind of ruins the experience,” Yates said. “There’s something special about putting a quarter in a machine and having an investment in that play that really changes how you experience it. But at the same time, we have a lot of people that wish we had the unlimited model.”
Yates said he had never encouraged his kids to get involved in the business because he knows how difficult it is to manage so many machines. But recently, he has started bringing in his 14-year-old daughter, Samantha, since she started to show more interest in the machines and how they work.
“The arcade has never really been something that supported us,” Yates said. “I’m an electrical engineer and programming developer, and I’ve made a lot more money in the past but I’ve learned as I got older, that money really isn’t what buys happiness and it’s not what life is about. It’s about enjoying your life.”
Older games evoke strong nostalgia for many people. Just ask Ryan Tauscher, co-owner of The Item Shop in uptown Normal and founder of the annual BN Video Game Convention.
“People really enjoy coming to get those heartstrings pulled and have moments where they find a toy or games they haven’t seen in 20 years,” Tauscher said. “It really brings them back to when they were a kid.”
The store, 104 S. Linden St., buys and sells a broad range of video games, toys and collectibles, including original consoles and special edition copies of games — "anything fun," he said.
Tauscher said most people enjoy seeing the game in their hands and revisiting the tactile experience of going through the manual, but not all games are in perfect condition. Some may bring in missing manuals, the box is falling apart or the game disc itself is scratched or broken, he said.
The Item Shop's game discs and cartridges are kept in plastic protectors and other items like manuals or covers can have slipcovers over them if they are still in good shape, he said. They also do console repairs, cleanings and testing for people who might find items at garage sales or in their childhood bedroom.
Many people are seeing video game collections in the past five years, he said. Beyond that, collectors are finding each other and forming communities with shared interests and memories.
“You can invest in stocks, but you’re just looking at numbers,” Tauscher said. “When you invest in video games, you enjoy playing them, talking about them and having them on your shelf display.” | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/many-challenges-to-preserve-aging-video-games-but-you-can-play-150-at-one-central/article_597cf29c-e215-11ec-9fdb-632f8c67081f.html | 2022-06-04T17:49:20 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/many-challenges-to-preserve-aging-video-games-but-you-can-play-150-at-one-central/article_597cf29c-e215-11ec-9fdb-632f8c67081f.html |
ATLANTA — Atlanta Public Schools is mourning the death of one of its alums, the doctor who was targeted this week in the killing of four people in a shooting at a hospital in Tulsa.
Dr. Preston Phillips, who also had degrees in organic chemistry and pharmacology from Emory University, was a Frederick Douglas High School class of 1980 graduate.
"I am deeply saddened to learn that the main target in the mass shooting that killed 4 at a hospital in Tulsa, OK this week is one of our #APSalumni, Dr. Preston Phillips, Frederick Douglass HS Class of 1980," APS Superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring wrote on Twitter. "May your memory be a blessing, may this tragedy be our call to action."
Preston Phillips was an orthopedic surgeon with an interest in spinal surgery and joint reconstruction, according to a profile on Saint Francis Health System's website.
The gunman called the clinic repeatedly complaining of pain and specifically targeted the doctor who performed the surgery, Tulsa Police Chief Wendell Franklin said.
Phillips was killed in the shooting, along with Dr. Stephanie Husen, receptionist Amanda Glenn and patient William Love, police said. The attack occurred on the campus of Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa.
Dr. Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of Saint Francis Health System, called Phillips a "consummate gentleman" and “a man that we should all strive to emulate.” He said the three employees who were killed were “the three best people in the entire world” and that they “didn’t deserve to die this way.”
Phillips had an interest in spinal surgery and joint reconstruction, the hospital bio said. He once served as lead physician for Tulsa’s WNBA team before the franchise moved out of state, according to the Tulsa World. | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/dr-preston-phillips-tulsa-shooting-atlanta-public-schools/85-488a0f40-6470-48c1-99a4-d7248c8cac5d | 2022-06-04T18:04:13 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/dr-preston-phillips-tulsa-shooting-atlanta-public-schools/85-488a0f40-6470-48c1-99a4-d7248c8cac5d |
Applications are now being accepted for the 2022 Prefontaine Memorial Run. The 10,000-meter road run is slated for a 10:05 a.m. start on Saturday, September 17, in downtown Coos Bay. After a two-year hiatus when the Prefontaine Runs scheduled for 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizing committee is confident that the 2022 race can be safely conducted, according to Bob Huggins, executive director.
A stand-alone 5K high school cross-country team competition, now in its 31st year, will start at 9:45 a.m., and a 2-mile fun run at 10:05 a.m.
Awards for the 10K run will be given in five-year age groups. First- through third-place finishers in each division will receive awards. The top three individual finishers in the high school cross-country race will receive awards, as well as the first three boy’s and girl’s teams. The awards ceremony for these races will be held next to the finish line on the Prefontaine Track at Pirate Stadium at Marshfield High School.
The entry fee is $40 if made prior to September 14 and $50 thereafter. High school team competitors must register on athletic.net and will receive a discounted registration fee. For runners 18 and under competing in the 10K or 2-mile fun run, the race fee is $20. A Pre Run t-shirt is included in the entry fee. Register online by logging onto the Prefontaine Run website at www.prefontainerun.com. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/41st-prefontaine-memorial-run-set-for-2022/article_a604614a-e288-11ec-a5dc-eb8f3f48cabc.html | 2022-06-04T18:18:50 | 1 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/41st-prefontaine-memorial-run-set-for-2022/article_a604614a-e288-11ec-a5dc-eb8f3f48cabc.html |
During A Memorial Day ceremony at Ocean View Memory Gardens, Mike Huffman Jr. made it a point to remember the most recent men and women who gave their all while serving the United States.
“The 13 U.S. service members who died last year in Afghanistan will not be the last to make such a sacrifice,” Huffman said.
Huffman, the exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge, then read the 13 names and gave information about each person who died while the U.S. was trying to evacuate U.S. residents and Afghanis who assisted during the 20-year conflict.
• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Tex.
• Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23, of Roseville, Calif.
• Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, 31, of Utah
• Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tenn.
• Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, Calif.
• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, 20, Jackson, Wyo.
• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, 20, of Norco, Calif.
• Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page, 23, of Omaha
• Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario, 25, Lawrence, Mass.
• Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, 22, Logansport, Ind.
• Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, 20, of Wentzville, Mo.
• Navy Hospital Corpsman Max Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio
“Their mission was noble,” Huffman said. “Not only are the diverse men and women forever in our hearts, for those who knew them, they are forever young.”
Huffman said the 13 service members in Afghanistan were a sobering reminder of the meaning of Memorial Day, a time set aside to remember and honor those who have their lives for the United States.
“From the American Revolution to the Global War on Terror, more than 1 million Americans made the ultimate sacrifice,” Huffman said. “This is why we are gathered here today. We are also remembering the young men and women who continue to step up to serve and, if needed, die for our country."
Huffman was joined by dozens of veterans representing different service organizations in the area. Dozens of U.S. flags were proudly held and a team gave a proper military gun salute before a lone bugler played Taps in honor of those lost.
Huffman said for those still around, the mission is ongoing.
“We must share the legacy and tell the story of the men and women who aren’t here,” He said. “There are many things we can do to care of the heroes, the first and foremost is to take care of their loved ones.”
Huffman said Memorial Day remains a somber day for many, even as others celebrate the beginning of summer.
“Memorial Day is not about picnics or parades,” he said. “Memorial Day is about gratitude and remembrance. It is to remember those who made our way of life possible.”
Huffman closed the ceremony with a quote from Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.” | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/service-honors-those-who-gave-the-ultimate-sacrifice/article_78bf5196-e287-11ec-a7f7-2f2aa64d2b5f.html | 2022-06-04T18:18:56 | 1 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/service-honors-those-who-gave-the-ultimate-sacrifice/article_78bf5196-e287-11ec-a7f7-2f2aa64d2b5f.html |
A local nonprofit working to build a tiny house village for unsheltered people has received a sizable land donation and is now working to secure funding.
The Homing Project was started in 2021 by former El Rio doctor J. Kristin Olson-Garewal and her son, Raj Garewal, who has experience working with similar projects in Southern California. They teamed up with Catalytic Health Partners to provide wraparound services for residents and in March, told the Star about their difficulties securing land amidst the current real estate market.
Less than a week later, the group received an offer to use nine acres of land free of charge for the next five years, Olson-Garewal told the Star.
"We're working with community leaders to find out (neighbors') concerns," Olson-Garewal said.
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In January, The Homing Project submitted a proposal to the city of Tucson to create a 14-unit Pallet house village with one of the city's American Rescue Plan Act grants. The proposal was based on the Pallet shelter model that's used in more than 50 cities across the United States. The ultimate hope is for a 30-house village, but the city's criteria included only proposals for transition housing for youth and elders.
Pallet houses come in 64- and 100-square-foot models and can be assembled quickly. The 64-square-foot model houses two beds, a desk and room for storage. The larger unit can accommodate a family of four, and in all pallet houses, the beds fold up to help maximize space. Each unit includes electricity, heating and air conditioning, and has secure, locking doors.
The Homing project will offer on-site social services, food, restrooms, showers and laundry, with residents taking turns preparing meals for the community. Olson-Garewal also hopes to install a basketball court to give residents something to do in their down time.
"Hopefully they'll be busy enough that it will be a normal home and they'll want to stay there," she said.
People with established partners, families and pets will all be allowed into the facility, and residents will come from the area in which the village is located, Olson-Garewal said. The group has one location locked in, but is hoping to expand in the future to other parts of town.
"If someone wants their homeless out of the way, they're going to have to give us a place to put up houses," she said.
The Homing Project is finalizing contracts for its $186,000 in ARPA funding. The group plans on residents staying at least two years, and they'll begin paying an appropriate rent at the point that they become financially stable, Olson-Garewal said.
The city is awarding multiple ARPA grants upwards of $2.5 million to assist with housing efforts, which Tucson Mayor Regina Romero says is a priority for this administration.
"(We have to be) able to offer people not just temporary shelter, but connect them to long term solutions for the reasons that they are houseless," Romero said. "What I want to make sure that we are doing as a city is that we are providing housing first, and then wrapping around the services that our houseless residents deserve. Safe, wraparound services and longterm stability."
Romero said the city's partnerships with local nonprofits like The Homing Project will make these efforts more stable in the longterm, and that it takes such partnerships to have a clear vision for the future of housing and community development in Tucson.
"We have never seen such big focus and big investment by the city of Tucson in our housing strategy," Romero said, adding that the city didn't have a longterm strategy for housing until she and and city council asked for one. "For me, as a mayor of our beautiful city, it has been a priority of mine to have stable, safe housing at every level of where an individual needs it."
Romero called the distribution of American Rescue Plan dollars historic, saying that the city has been putting the funds it's received to good use.
"What we have been able to do these past two years, we’ve never seen it done before," she said.
Contact Star reporter Caitlin Schmidt at 573-4191 or cschmidt@tucson.com. On Twitter: @caitlincschmidt | https://tucson.com/news/local/land-donation-brings-tucson-tiny-house-village-within-reach/article_54766624-ddf7-11ec-853e-57c18597da07.html | 2022-06-04T18:37:22 | 0 | https://tucson.com/news/local/land-donation-brings-tucson-tiny-house-village-within-reach/article_54766624-ddf7-11ec-853e-57c18597da07.html |
WOODLAND, Calif. — After more than two decades of investigating, authorities in Yolo County have identified human remains first found near a Clarksburg slough in March of 1999.
The Yolo County District Attorney's Office has identified Gerron Gipson as the victim of a homicide cold case. Gipson, 29 years old at the time of the homicide, had ties to the Sacramento area, the District Attorney's Office says.
On March 4, 1999, authorities say they found the decomposed remains of Gipson on the bank of a slough in the Yolo County community of Clarksburg.
While the cause of death was initially determined to be a homicide, officials say they were unable to identify the remains due to the state of decomposition that the remains were in when found.
Recently, the District Attorney's Office said that they began to use genetic genealogy testing on the remains and found a partial DNA sample.
On June 2, the match was made identifying Gipson as the victim by using investigative genetic genealogy, the District Attorney's Office says.
"Though there was a passage of time, Gerron Gipson was never forgotten," said Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig. "I am proud of the dedication and collaboration among our law enforcement partners that will make it possible to return Gerron to his loved ones and offer them some sense of closure. We will wholeheartedly support them in the coming days.”
The Yolo County District Attorney's Office is still investigating the case along with the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice.
Those with information on the cold case are asked to call the Yolo County Sheriff's Office at 530-668-5280.
Watch More from ABC10: Why are so many Sacramento Valley cockroaches popping up in houses? | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/woodland/gerron-gipson-cold-case/103-87fa14d3-cb44-41bb-965b-5f5b72ffd882 | 2022-06-04T18:46:09 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/woodland/gerron-gipson-cold-case/103-87fa14d3-cb44-41bb-965b-5f5b72ffd882 |
A helicopter crash-landed at an airport in New Jersey early Saturday afternoon, injuring the pilot operating the aircraft, police officials said.
Police and FAA officials said the helicopter came down at Essex County Airport shortly after 12 p.m. The aircraft, a 2015 Bell Model 407, landed near runway 28 on the north side of the airport.
First responders found the 33-year-old pilot from Georgia slumped over in the pilot seat, "partially leaning out of the cockpit," a news release from Fairfield Police said. He was transported to a local hospital to be treated for head injuries.
A preliminary investigation conducted in the first hours after the crash found the pilot had departed from the airport bound to collect a private charter before the incident. Police said a witness saw the helicopter spin in the air before hitting the ground.
No one else was on board the helicopter when it landed.
A joint investigation was being conducted by local fire and police departments, as well as the FAA. The Nutley Fire Department's Hazardous Materials Team was dispatched to help contain a fuel spill on site.
Officials temporarily closed the airport in the aftermath of the crash. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/helicopter-pilot-injured-after-crashing-at-nj-county-airport/3720213/ | 2022-06-04T19:03:45 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/helicopter-pilot-injured-after-crashing-at-nj-county-airport/3720213/ |
Driving through Meridian today, it might be hard to imagine that the land was once spotted by dairy farms.
In the past few decades, the city’s population has exploded, leaving it virtually unrecognizable when compared to its agricultural past. But there is one major annual reminder of the city’s history: Meridian Dairy Days.
The event, which takes place later this month and features a large parade, cattle and goat shows and a pageant, is returning for its 93rd year.
“I think most people haven’t lived here very long anymore and they’re probably wondering why we do have Dairy Days when they can’t find a dairy anywhere,” said Hans Bruijn, president of the dairy board that oversees the multi-day event.
Bruijn said Dairy Days is not only a celebration of history and remembering the past but it has also become more and more about getting the word out about the dairy industry and bringing the community together to see what Meridian has to offer.
The event also has a special emphasis on 4-H and Future Farmers of America education. Participants in the Dairy Days shows and competitions have the chance to get sent to agricultural conferences or win scholarships to further their education.
“Hopefully they go into some kind of agricultural field. Not necessarily, you know, dairy sciences, but anything, you know, agriculture education,” Bruijn said. “And then hopefully they come back … and then get the word out about agriculture and the importance of producing local food.”
According to Bruijn, these scholarships come, in large part, thanks to the sponsors that Dairy Days has recently expanded to include. The main sponsor of the event is CBH Homes.
“When the opportunity came to us to be the main sponsor for Meridian Dairy Days, we were all in. We love this community and truly believe that community is the heart of Idaho and what makes Idaho an amazing place to live,” said Ronda Conger, vice president of CBH Homes. “This is a time for us to celebrate not only where we’ve come from, but give back to the community that helped us get here.”
Sponsors also help the event bring in music and other entertainment. This year, Dairy Days has no shortage of either. New this year is an ice cream social featuring free scoops from Reed’s Dairy. There is also a new cow art competition where local businesses will decorate plywood cows to the theme of “Party ‘til the Cows Come Home,” and attendees of Dairy Days can vote for their favorite. A new traveling trophy will also be awarded to the winning marching band at the ever-popular Meridian Dairy Days parade.
In addition to new entertainment, plenty of old favorites, like the carnival will be returning.
Meridian Dairy Days will start at 7 p.m. on June 22 with the Meridian Dairy Days Princess Pageant. Festivities will run throughout the rest of the week before finishing up on June 25 with an evening firework show. Most of the festivities will take place around Storey Park in Meridian.
A full schedule of Dairy Days events and performances can be found at dairydays.org | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/93rd-annual-meridian-dairy-days-to-take-place-later-this-month/article_48c41f2d-099e-5bf2-b9df-679ebe21eb16.html | 2022-06-04T19:19:41 | 0 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/93rd-annual-meridian-dairy-days-to-take-place-later-this-month/article_48c41f2d-099e-5bf2-b9df-679ebe21eb16.html |
Originally published June 1 on KTVB.COM.
Since early May, the community in and around Nampa has debated the Nampa School District’s decision to remove 22 books from district library shelves. The decision came during a May 9 board meeting, where the five-member school board opted to remove books that were challenged and brought to the attention of the board.
At the time of removal, some of the challenged books were still under review for possible content some parents deemed inappropriate because of “pornographic” content.
The decision was met by an emotional reaction from both supporters and critics of the decision. Those against removing the books argue it is censoring necessary topics students should be engaged with. Serious matters for discussion including sexual assault, violence and adult relationships were inside books some parents said went too far for the classroom.
For the first time since the removals began, Nampa School Board Chair Jeff Kirkman spoke with KTVB about the vote to remove books, the process leading up to the decision and next steps in the discussion.
Kirkman said the rationale behind his ‘yes’ vote to remove the list of books ‘forever’ isn’t as simple as just wanting to get rid of books. He said, for him, it comes down to the process, one he found inconsistent.
“During that decision or during that period of time after discussion, a trustee made that motion to remove the books permanently and when he added the word ‘forever’ at the last second, it kind of caught me off guard,” Kirkman said. “So, now I’m starting to think when I vote, that’s really going to make a difference, that forever piece, because my thought, for me personally, was let’s remove these books temporarily so that we can get a process in place. Let’s just pause everything, because that’s really what was going on.
“There was a lot of contention, we got to take him out, got to leave him in. Let’s take this out, take that out,’” Kirkman continued. “Well, I just wanted to say, let’s just pause. So, that was what I intended to do with my vote, was remove those books, pause the process, work with district staff, get a really good procedure in place that everybody knew.”
Kirkman said the process to review challenged books wasn’t consistent.
“There was some kind of a process in place, but really nothing concrete that we could say: ‘Here, Mr. Parent, here’s the process of how this works.’ That was an issue for the Trustees,” Kirkman said. “We wanted to make sure that there was a really concrete process in place and that’s why I brought it up at that work session. Let’s bring this to a board and let’s get public input. Let’s go through that open meeting of that public meeting and work through this process.”
Some of the feedback Kirkman received was about the wording used in the public meeting to describe the removal, as for ‘forever.’ He said the topic can be introduced again.
“To be honest with you, there’s books on that list that shouldn’t be on that list. They should not be removed from the libraries, but for me, at that point, to make that decision, ‘yes,’ to remove those, it wasn’t about specific books,” Kirkman said. “It was like, here’s what we know, the books that are in question, let’s just pull those, get a procedure in place and then run all those books through that process and any other books that might come up.”
There are community comments accusing the Nampa School Board of simply not wanting students to talk about tough subjects like sexual assault, rape, sex, and general violence.
Some parents have spoken out, arguing those ‘tough’ subjects are very important and ones that young adults need to talk about. Kirkman said he hears those comments and it is a task now to find a balance.
“I think that’s why it’s really important to continue the conversation with parents. ‘How do you want this to look? Do you want every time a content comes up in a classroom, we have to stop everything, reach out to parents, get their input? Do we do an opt in? Do we do an opt out?’ Those conversations are not new, but if we did that, and I’m just thinking down the road, if we stopped everything so that we could get the parents, which again need to be involved to ask those questions, we’re never going to have the time to teach,” Kirkman said. “Is it the school’s responsibility to teach arithmetic, reading, writing — those core traditional school subjects? I say, yes.
“Is it the parents’ responsibility to teach their kids about sex? I say yes. I take that responsibility with my own kids. Do they need to be exposed to all this other traumatic trauma, all this other stuff? Yes, they do. But, a school, is that the right place to do that? Is the classroom the right place to do it? Yeah. I don’t know where that line is, but that’s why we continuously have conversations with people in the community.”
Reaction of the book removal included local bookstores stocking the removed books as well as community efforts to provide the books in question to interested students and families. Kirkman said he has no issue with that effort at all.
“I don’t have a problem with that. I think that’s fantastic. It’s another opportunity for people to get the books that aren’t available or may not be available in the public libraries,” Kirkman said. “I know a lot of them are doing that to make a statement, which again is OK with me.”
The Nampa School Board is expected to meet next week. They are hoping to begin a process of creating a new system for challenge books going forward. Kirkman said the goal is to get it done as soon as possible.
More from KTVB.COM: | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/forever-is-a-long-time-nampa-school-board-chair-discusses-recent-book-ban/article_172add8c-96a2-5225-afcd-034d03aff25b.html | 2022-06-04T19:19:48 | 0 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/forever-is-a-long-time-nampa-school-board-chair-discusses-recent-book-ban/article_172add8c-96a2-5225-afcd-034d03aff25b.html |
An interior designer from St. John won top awards in an international design contest.
Cathi Lloyd, who owns the Decorating Den Interiors franchise in St John, won a prize for a dramatic room makeover in the dining room category at Decorating Den Interiors’ 53rd annual conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She also won second place in the window treatment category in the International Dream Room competition that was judged by journalists from across North America who cover interiors for glossy magazines like Traditional Home, House Beautiful, Design NY and Arabella.
Lloyd said her award-winning room makeover design featured "navy, grey and ivory, wallpaper accent wall, multidrop pendant chandelier, navy velvet host chairs and embroidered drapery panels combined with a stunning starburst pattern buffet piece in champagne gold and warm dark wood to create an awesome transitional dining room." Her window treatment included antique silver faux iron designs overlaid on charcoal custom cornices, textured and embellished sheers and motorized silhouettes controlled by smart home tech.
The panel of journalist judges selected Lloyd and other winners based on design excellence, overall preservation and creative problem-solving.
“I’ve returned from the conference with an extensive library of before and after high-resolution digital photographs featuring room makeovers from this year’s Dream Room competition,” Lloyd said. “They are fabulous designs with interesting stories behind them making for an ideal workshop or seminar program for organizations looking for a speaker for their meetings."
She also won an Eagle Award for her sales last year, which ranked in the top 15% companywide.
Decorating Den Interiors dates back to 1969 and is now national in scope. Its work has been featured in publications like Traditional Home, Elle Décor, Better Homes and Gardens, Veranda and Home Accents Today.
Lloyd has owned the St. John franchise since 1989.
“As North America’s largest interior design and home furnishings franchise company, we offer our clients fine furniture, case goods, accessories, lighting, floor and wall coverings, draperies and other hard and soft window treatments from our LIVV Home Collection of furnishings,” Lloyd explains. “We bring samples directly to the client’s home or office, provide complimentary design services and personally oversee projects through installation.”
Joseph S. Pete is a Lisagor Award-winning business reporter who covers steel, industry, unions, the ports, retail, banking and more. The Indiana University grad has been with The Times since 2013 and blogs about craft beer, culture and the military.
Officers had to rescue a homeowner and her two dogs from a house fire sparked by "careless open burning in a fire pit by a neighbor in the high winds," according to the Cedar Lake Police Department.
The Shrine of Christ’s Passion plans to celebrate the May crowning of the Great Lady and the Our Lady of the New Millennium statues and the addition of the a new statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the next few weeks. | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/st-john-interior-decorator-wins-international-design-business-leadership-awards/article_0685c387-f3fc-5c56-9714-b1f6f310ed16.html | 2022-06-04T19:21:20 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/st-john-interior-decorator-wins-international-design-business-leadership-awards/article_0685c387-f3fc-5c56-9714-b1f6f310ed16.html |
The state of Indiana is preparing to spend $25 million of its federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to acquire and preserve open lands across the state for permanent conservation.
The Department of Natural Resources recently announced the establishment of the Next Level Conservation Trust that's tasked with purchasing and setting aside open spaces and other special places in Indiana for Hoosiers to enjoy for decades and centuries to come.
"The Next Level Conservation Trust (NLCT) will continue the DNR’s legacy of preserving Indiana's rich natural heritage," said DNR Director Dan Bortner.
"Outstanding natural features, unique habitats, significant historical and archeological sites, and areas for conservation, restoration and recreation will be protected for Hoosiers today and for future generations."
According to the DNR, the $25 million initial investment in the NLCT is the largest infusion of funds for conservation purposes in state history.
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The DNR is reaching out to local governments, community organizations and environmental groups to identify properties worth acquiring for new and existing state and local parks, archeological and historic sites, state forests, state and local nature preserves, state fish and wildlife areas, wetlands, local conservation areas, outdoor recreation areas and river corridors.
The program rules call for local entities to put up one-fourth of the purchase price of land selected for acquisition with the NLCT covering the remainder of the cost. The minimum project size is $133,000.
Property protected under NLCT must be open to the public. But local ownership and management of acquired properties may be maintained through a conservation easement, the rules state.
At the same time, NLCT funds cannot be used for properties acquired through eminent domain, trails, construction or removal of structures or improvements, removal or remediation of hazardous substances, wastewater treatment, or for the restoration, renovation or repair of historic structures.
Additional details about the NLCT program, including an outline of the review process, an inquiry form, and answers to frequently asked questions are available online at on.in.gov/next-level-conservation-trust .
Gallery: Take a virtual tour of Indiana's state parks
Brown County State Park
Location: Nashville
Size: 15,776 acres (largest state park)
Opened: 1929
Activities: 12 hiking trails spanning 18 miles; 25 mi. of mountain biking trails; 20 horseback riding trails; hiking; birdwatching; fishing; leafing; cross-county skiing; sledding; ice fishing
Amenities: Abe Martin Lodge and annex, 84 rooms with water park; 86 cabins; modern and primitive campgrounds
DNR description: Nicknamed the "Little Smokies" because of the area's resemblance to the Great Smoky Mountains, Brown County encompasses nearly 16,000 acres of rugged hills, ridges and fog-shrouded ravines. Glaciers from the most recent ice ages stopped short of the "hills o' Brown," but their meltwaters helped create the narrow ridges, steep slopes and deep gullies of Brown County State Park. Indiana's largest park is a traditional fall color hot spot, with nearly 20 miles of tree-lined roads and many scenic vistas overlooking miles of uninterrupted forestland.
Dan Carden
Chain O' Lakes State Park
Location: Albion
Size: 2,718 acres
Opened: 1960
Activities: 13 lakes for boating, canoeing, fishing, swimming; hiking
Amenities: Stanley Schoolhouse Nature Center; boat rental; furnished cabins; primitive campsites
DNR description: This is lake country and a small boater's paradise. Nine connecting lakes will be the center of your adventures at Chain O'Lakes. Paddle through the chain of serene kettle lakes, hike the 10 miles of forested trails, fish the electric-motors-only lakes, stay overnight in a forested hillside family cabin, or visit the park's old one-room schoolhouse nature center. Other facilities available for visitors to enjoy include a campground, beach and picnic shelters.
Dan Carden
Charlestown State Park
Location: Charlestown
Size: 5,100 acres
Opened: 1996
Activities: Hiking; Fishing; Picnicking; Camping; Birdwatching
Amenities: 182 modern and primitive campsites
DNR description: Once a largely undeveloped portion of the Indiana Army Ammunition plant, Charlestown State Park is located in southern Indiana. With scenic vistas of the Fourteenmile Creek valley and the Ohio River and elevation changes of over 200 feet, Charlestown has much to offer the visitor with its rugged hills and deep ravines. While hiking the rugged terrain you will see Devonian fossil outcrops and areas of karst sinkhole topography. Bird watchers will enjoy the 72 species of birds, including bluebirds, black vultures and an occasional bald eagle.
Dan Carden
Clifty Falls State Park
Location: Madison
Size: 1,416 acres
Opened: 1920
Activities: Four waterfalls; hiking; swimming; picnicking; tennis
Amenities: Clifty Inn and Restaurant; nature center
DNR description: The park's waterfalls change moods with the weather and the seasons and can range from roaring plunges to delicate bridal-veil mists to gleaming frozen titans. Winter and spring visits reveal them at their best. The rugged splendor of Clifty Canyon offers exciting year-round hiking and scenery.
Dan Carden
Falls of the Ohio State Park
Location: Clarksville
Size: 165 acres
Opened: 1990
Activities: Hiking; fishing; picnicking; boat launch
Amenities: Interpretative Center
DNR description: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark met at the Falls prior to launching the 1804 Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean. The park's 386-million-year-old fossil beds are among the largest exposed Devonian fossil beds in the world. The park features a spectacular interpretive center overlooking the fossil beds that reopened in 2016 with completely new exhibits.
Dan Carden
Fort Harrison State Park
Location: Indianapolis
Size: 1,700 acres
Opened: 1996
Activities: Hiking; bicycle trails; golf; fishing; canoeing; dog park; sledding; ice fishing; cross country skiing; recreation buildings; horseback riding
Amenities: 18-hole golf course; inn; restaurant; saddle barn; nature shop; Museum of 20th Century Warfare
DNR description: Landscape and history blend together at this unique setting on the northeast side of Indianapolis. The 1,700-acre park — comprising a portion of the former Fort Benjamin Harrison military base — features walking and jogging trails, picnic sites, fishing access to Fall Creek and two national historic districts. An oasis of green in an urban landscape, Fort Harrison is one of the hidden gems to be found in the state, just minutes from home for many visitors needing contact with nature.
Dan Carden
Harmonie State Park
Location: New Harmony
Size: 3,465 acres
Opened: 1996
Activities: Hiking; bicycle trails; horseback riding; boat launch; fishing; picnicking; swimming
Amenities: 200 modern campsites; youth tent campsites
DNR description: Harmonie State Park is located "on the banks of the Wabash" and a beautiful swimming pool, shady picnic areas, ravines and pristine landscape await you here. Trails for walking, biking and nature hikes will lure you for a visit. Nearby Historic New Harmony honors two unique communities from the early 1800s. The Rappites located here in 1814. They were fleeing from religious persecution and awaiting the impending millennium. In 1824, the Owenites brought many great scientists and philosophers into the area when they purchased the Rappites' holdings.
Dan Carden
Lincoln State Park
Location: Lincoln City
Size: 1,747 acres
Opened: 1932
Activities: Historic sites; hiking; boat launch; picnicking; swimming; fishing
Amenities: Nature center; general store; boat rental; cabins; campsites
DNR description: Discover the boyhood home of the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Among the rolling hills and thick forest, young Lincoln learned many life lessons. Lincoln State Park offers 10 miles of hiking trails, two scenic lakes, and an interpretive center to help you experience early life of settlers in southern Indiana. Tour the Colonel Jones Home, the historic home of the merchant and Civil War officer who employed young Lincoln. The Little Pigeon Creek Baptist Church and Cemetery, located on the property, is where Lincoln’s sister Sarah is buried. Sarah Lincoln Woods Nature Preserve is located in the southernmost portion of the park. A visit to Lincoln State Park is like taking a step back in time to when the land was wild and Lincoln was a boy.
Dan Carden
McCormick's Creek State Park
Location: Spencer
Size: 1,924 acres
Opened: 1916 (oldest state park)
Activities: Hiking; horseback riding; swimming; recreation center; tennis; picnicking; caving
Amenities: Canyon Inn; nature center; saddle barn; cabins; 221 modern and primitive campsites; youth tent camping; camp store
DNR description: Explore the spectacular limestone canyon, flowing creek, and scenic waterfalls that highlight Indiana’s first state park. Hike trails featuring diverse forest trees, spicebush, and native wildflowers, including a trail through Wolf Cave Nature Preserve and an accessible trail at the recently renovated nature center. Experience history as you climb the fire tower, use shelter houses or cross the stone arch bridge created by the Civilian Conservation Corps, or examine the historic Statehouse Quarry near White River, which furnished limestone used for the Indianapolis Statehouse. Relax in the lobby of Canyon Inn, open to all park visitors, or watch birds from the dining room porch. Catch cultural events such as concerts in the park amphitheater or attend the several special events hosted annually at the park. McCormick’s Creek State Park offers active enjoyment through all seasons of the year.
Dan Carden
Mounds State Park
Location: Anderson
Size: 252 acres
Opened: 1930
Activities: Historic sites; hiking; fishing; swimming; picnicking
Amenities: Nature center; gift shop; 75 modern campsites; youth tent camping; camp store
DNR description: Mounds State Park features 10 unique earthworks built by prehistoric Indians known as the Adena-Hopewell people. The largest earthwork, the Great Mound, is believed to have been constructed around 160 B.C. Archaeological surveys indicate the mounds were used as gathering places for religious ceremonies, from where astronomical alignments could be viewed. Naturalist-led hikes and interpretive programs are offered every weekend throughout the year.
Dan Carden
O'Bannon Woods State Park
Location: Corydon
Size: 2,000 acres
Opened: 2004
Activities: Swimming; water slides; hiking; horseback riding; picnicking; fishing; boating;
Amenities: Aquatic center; nature center; cabins; 353 modern and primitive campsites
DNR description: O'Bannon Woods State Park (formerly Wyandotte Woods State Recreation Area) lies in the central and extreme southern part of the state, bordering the Ohio River. It was the location of one of the few African-American Civilian Conservation Corps units. The property also has a uniquely restored, working haypress barn, complete with oxen for power and a pioneer farmstead. Indiana’s first natural and scenic river, Blue River, flows through the state park and forest. The Corydon Capitol State Historic Site is located near the park. Visitors can learn about early Indiana history as they tour the beautiful first state capitol building, built entirely of limestone, and old town square.
Dan Carden
Ouabache State Park
Location: Bluffton
Size: 1,104 acres
Opened: 1962
Activities: Hiking; swimming; fishing; boating; volleyball; paved bicycle trail; tennis; basketball courts; picnicking
Amenities: Nature center; recreation center; campsites
DNR description: Ouabache is difficult to spell, but easy to pronounce. Simply say "Wabash"...just like the river that forms the southwest boundary for the park. This is the French spelling of an Indian word, so don't be surprised to hear some folks call it o-ba-chee. Kunkel Lake offers excellent fishing. During the summer months, a naturalist provides information about the natural wonders of the park. A lodge recreation building is available all year.
Dan Carden
Pokagon State Park
Location: Angola
Size: 1,260 acres
Opened: 1925
Activities: Hiking; swimming; cross country skiing; tobogganing; horseback riding; picnicking; playground; sand volleyball
Amenities: Potawatomi Inn; nature center; toboggan run; boat rental; saddle barn; 273 modern and primitive campsites; youth tent camping; camp store
DNR description: Being one of the state’s original parks, Pokagon features the unique work of the Civilian Conservation Corps, whose members lived and worked at Pokagon from 1934 to 1942. The “boys of the CCC” built the beautiful stone and log structures that dot the park landscape and provide accent to the rolling wooded hills, wetlands and open meadows. Natural lakes created by glaciers that melted 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, highlight Steuben County, which has more lakes than any other Indiana county. The park is framed by Lake James and Snow Lake, which offer abundant opportunities for boating, swimming, fishing and scenic sunsets. Pokagon is also Indiana State Parks’ winter wonderland, with cross-country ski rental, sledding, ice fishing and a twin-track toboggan run.
Dan Carden
Potato Creek State Park
Location: North Liberty
Size: 3,840 acres
Opened: 1977
Activities: Biking; hiking; swimming; boating; fishing; ice fishing; cross-country skiing; wildlife observation; horseback riding; snow tubing
Amenities: Nature center; 3.2 mile paved bike trail; 6.6 mi. mountain bike trail; recreation building; boat/bike rental; 17 cabins; 347 campsites; youth tent camping; camp store
DNR description: Potato Creek is in north-central Indiana about 12 miles southwest of South Bend. The park features a wide array of activities and facilities for year-round enjoyment. A variety of natural habitats await, including the 327-acre Worster Lake, old fields, mature woodlands, restored prairies and diverse wetlands. Each offers unique opportunities for plant and wildlife observation. Native peoples used the area for hunting and fishing. The area’s first people of European descent settled here in the 1830s.
Dan Carden
Prophetstown State Park
Location: Battle Ground
Size: 2,000 acres
Opened: 2004 (newest state park)
Activities: Hiking; bicycling; camping; swimming
Amenities: 2.75 mile hiking trail; 2.4 mile bike trail; aquatic center; 110 campsites
DNR description : Indiana’s newest state park, Prophetstown is located where the Tippecanoe River meets the Wabash near the town of Battle Ground northeast of Lafayette. The park's landscape has been shaped by ice from glaciers, moving water, fire and human hands that helped maintain the vast tall prairie grass. Native American people hunted and lived along the two rivers for thousands of years. The Aquatic Center features a 30-foot tube slide, body flume, lazy river float area, adventure channel, zero-entry pool with play features, and an aquatic activity area with basketball.
Dan Carden
Shades State Park
Location: Waveland
Size: 3,082 acres
Opened: 1947
Activities: Hiking; fishing; picnicking; canoeing
Amenities: Nature preserve; 123 campsites (Apr.-Oct.); youth tent camping
DNR description: Shades State Park is that peaceful place you've sought; a favorite for hikers and canoeists. The beautiful sandstone cliffs overlooking Sugar Creek and numerous shady ravines provide the backdrop for your journey through this nature lover's paradise. Also on the property is Pine Hills Nature Preserve, which affords spectacular topography for those willing to take a fairly long hike.
Dan Carden
Shakamak State Park
Location: Jasonville
Size: 1,766 acres
Opened: 1929
Activities: Swimming; water sliding; boating; fishing; ice fishing; hiking; picnicking; basketball; tennis
Amenities: Nature center; aquatic center; boat launch; cabins; recreation building; boat rental; 174 campsites; youth tent camping; camp store
DNR description: Ready to relax? Head for Shakamak. Three man-made lakes offer 400 acres of water for fishing and boating while a family aquatic center provides swimming fun. About two-thirds of the campsites are in a wooded area, offering cool shade in the summer and beautiful fall colors in autumn. Nearby is a play field area for family fun. A popular feature of the park is the group camp.
Dan Carden
Spring Mill State Park
Location: Mitchell
Size: 1,358 acres
Opened: 1927
Activities: Historic sites; cave tours; hiking; biking; picnicking; swimming; hayrides
Amenities: Spring Mill Inn; pioneer village; Gus Grissom memorial; boat tour; bike rental; 221 modern and primitive campsites; youth tent camping; camp store
DNR description: Spring Mill State Park offers a powerful illustration of the link between the natural and cultural worlds. The water flowing from several cave springs led to the founding of an industrial village in the early 1800s. Pioneer entrepreneurs took advantage of a constant water source that never froze, using it to power several gristmills, a wool mill, a saw mill and a distillery. In turn, pioneer settlers shaped the landscape around the village, clearing land for agriculture and timber.
The park today continues to illustrate how nature shapes us and how we shape our environment. A parcel of virgin timber sits in contrast to regenerated forest, a man-made lake struggles to survive against the in-flow of silt from cave-fed systems and the native flora and fauna face challenges from man’s introduction of new species.
Visitors can explore this story in the park’s four interpretive facilities—the Pioneer Village, Nature Center, Grissom Memorial and Twin Caves Boat Tour—and see it reflected on the landscape as they hike the trails.
Dan Carden
Summit Lake State Park
Location: New Castle
Size: 2,680 acres
Opened: 1988
Activities: Fishing; birdwatching; swimming; ice fishing; boating; hiking; cross-country skiing; picnicking
Amenities: Boat launch; picnic shelters; boat rental; 73 campsites; youth tent camping
DNR description: An expansive view and good fishing beckon you to Summit Lake State Park, near New Castle. Summit Lake has an excellent bird watching and wildlife observation area. The property has always been an important area for waterfowl because of the many low-lying wet meadows and prairies. Migratory species have included rare species like the black tern, bald eagle, sandhill crane, American bittern, least bittern, king rail and osprey. Zeigler Woods, in the southwest corner of the park, is Henry County’s first nature preserve. Zeigler Woods has rich flora and fauna with little evidence of human disturbance.
Dan Carden
Tippecanoe River State Park
Location: Winamac
Size: 2,761 acres
Opened: 1943
Activities: Canoeing; horseback riding; hiking; boating; fishing; picnicking; cross-country skiing
Amenities: Recreation building; cabins; 178 modern and primitive campsites; youth tent camping
DNR description: Attention canoers! Get ready for a relaxing journey as you float down the beautiful Tippecanoe River. You must bring your own canoe or make arrangements with the local canoe livery. When you return, you can enjoy the beautiful campground facilities with your group, family or friends.
Dan Carden
Turkey Run State Park
Location:
Marshall
Size:
2,382 acres
Opened:
1916
Activities:
Hiking, fishing, horseback riding, swimming, tennis, playgrounds, cultural programs
Amenities:
Turkey Run Inn, nature center, planetarium, saddle barn, cabins, 213 campsites, youth tent camping, camp store
DNR description:
You’ll marvel at the natural geologic wonders of this beautiful park as you hike along its famous trails. Nestled along State Road 47 southwest of Crawfordsville, the park offers the chance to explore deep, sandstone ravines, walk along stands of aged forests and enjoy the scenic views along Sugar Creek. Make sure to visit the Colonel Richard Lieber Cabin, which commemorates the contributions of the father of Indiana’s state park system.
Dan Carden
Versailles State Park
Location: Versailles
Size: 5,988 acres
Opened: 1943
Activities: Hiking; fishing; horseback riding; mountain biking; boating; swimming; picnicking; kayaking
Amenities: Covered bridge; boat launch; boat rental; 226 modern campsites; youth tent camping; camp store
DNR description: Take a drive through the beautiful rolling hills of southeastern Indiana with Versailles State Park, Indiana’s second-largest state park, as your destination. Numerous fossils tell the story of an ancient sea that covered the region. During the Civil War, Morgan’s Raiders made their way through the area that is now the park. The town of Versailles was briefly under Confederate control. Relax while fishing on the 230-acre lake where you can rent a rowboat, kayak or canoe. Get a workout and see the beauty of the park by taking a walk on the hiking trails or a ride on the mountain bike trails. Bring your horses for the day to enjoy the more than 20 miles of horse trails. Steps to a scenic overlook at the dam are a prime spot to see herons and other aquatic wildlife.
Dan Carden
White River State Park
Location: Indianapolis
Size: 250 acres
Opened: 1979
Activities: Museums; sports; concerts; theaters; zoo; hiking; Segway rides; historic canal; gardening; maze; picnicking; art
Amenities: Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western Art; IMAX Theater; Indiana State Museum; Indianapolis Indians baseball at Victory Field; Indianapolis Zoo; White River Gardens; NCAA Hall of Champions; Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial; Indiana History Center; Central Canal; Military Park
Description: White River State Park boasts world-class attractions and destinations that offer distinctive experiences for every interest and visitor! Yes, you will find green spaces, trails, trees and waterways that you expect at any state park. In addition to nature’s wonderland, you will find cultural, educational, and recreational attractions and events in our urban getaway’s 250-acres. Located in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, White River State Park is the place you can enjoy the outdoors without ever leaving the city.
Dan Carden
Whitewater Memorial State Park
Location: Liberty
Size: 1,710 acres
Opened: 1949
Activities: Hiking; fishing; horseback riding; boating; swimming; canoeing; picnicking; ice fishing; archery; hayrides; birdwatching
Amenities: Marina; saddle barn; boat launches; boat rental; cabins; 318 modern and primitive campsites; youth tent camping; camp store
DNR description: Whitewater Memorial State Park is a great family getaway because of its 200-acre Whitewater Lake, access to Brookville Reservoir and other recreational facilities. Shoreline hiking, flat-water boating, swimming, fishing and camping opportunities are abundant around the man-made lake. The access to Brookville Reservoir provides many opportunities for seeing migrating flocks of birds. Whitewater Memorial State Park boasts 9 miles of horseback riding trails with access both for day users and from the horsemen’s campground. The land for the park was originally purchased by the surrounding counties of Union, Fayette, Franklin and Wayne as a memorial to the men and women who served in World War II.
Dan Carden
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Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/indiana-investing-25m-in-federal-funds-in-land-conservation/article_af7ca1da-9b14-5509-b564-1628d6e3ea30.html | 2022-06-04T19:21:23 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/indiana-investing-25m-in-federal-funds-in-land-conservation/article_af7ca1da-9b14-5509-b564-1628d6e3ea30.html |
GALLIA COUNTY, OH (WOWK)—A woman is in custody after a child fell from a second-story apartment in Gallia County on Saturday.
The Gallia County Sheriff’s Office says that Gallia 911 received a call around 10:00 a.m. on Saturday that someone had seen a small child fall from what appeared to be a window of a second-story apartment at the Gallia Metropolitan Estates.
Emergency personnel found the child outside the building and was airlifted to Columbus for medical treatment.
Sheriff Matt Champlin said in a statement that 20-year-old Nelida A. Hernandez, the mother of the child, was taken into custody.
No charges have yet been filed, but they are expected to come after the sheriff’s department consults with the Prosecuting Attorney’s office. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/woman-in-custody-after-child-falls-from-2-story-building/ | 2022-06-04T19:21:23 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/woman-in-custody-after-child-falls-from-2-story-building/ |
Three additional deaths were reported as a result of COVID-19 in Lake County in the past seven-day period, according to the Indiana Department of Health.
Lake County reported one additional coronavirus-attributed death, and LaPorte County recorded two more deaths since May 28.
Porter, Newton and Jasper counties did not report any new coronavirus-attributed deaths in the last week.
In total, the pandemic has accounted for 1,759 deaths in Lake County; 540 in Porter County; 364 in LaPorte County; 66 in Newton County; and 142 in Jasper County.
Infection numbers have decreased in the last week, following several weeks of increases in coronavirus cases. State health records indicate the statewide seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases totaled 1,068 per week, down from 1,238 the previous week.
Lake County leads as the Indiana county with the second-highest amount of reported COVID-19 cases since the pandemic's start, with a total of 111,243 cases. Marion County, home of the state capitol, leads with 230,947 cases.
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Over the state border, 7,177 cases in total have been reported in Lansing since the pandemic's start. The number is currently at 8,243 in Calumet City.
Records show that 58% of Hoosiers age 5 and up, the state's eligible population, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
A complete list of COVID-19 vaccine sites is available online at ourshot.in.gov. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/three-new-covid-19-deaths-reported-in-nwi-data-shows/article_381026c3-dcb9-58bb-a1db-c567811fd0b1.html | 2022-06-04T19:21:23 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/three-new-covid-19-deaths-reported-in-nwi-data-shows/article_381026c3-dcb9-58bb-a1db-c567811fd0b1.html |
Susan Johnson has always been a little spooky.
The Flagstaff transplant says she used to keep her curiosity for the darker side of life safely locked into the last two months of October before tucking it away for the rest of the year.
Then, the ghostly lore dominated her life. She was especially taken with her adopted hometown's haunted history. Flagstaff garnered its dark past as an Old West hub with grim stories of lovers scorned, deadly rails, creepy characters and a fair share of family annihilation. Johnson was fascinated with it all and delved into historical records and newspaper archives in search of the truth within the small mountain town’s sordid history.
"Everybody loves a good ghost story," Johnson quipped.
Alongside even more questions, the answers she found eventually made up the haunted walking tour of downtown Flagstaff given by her son, Nick Jones, and local renaissance man, Dapper Dre.
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But Johnson herself admits she was never a showwoman. Instead, her passion is in the research — the search for answers to questions only known by those long dead. But, according to Johnson, that's the fun.
The historian of the macabre has now assembled some of the most well-known tales of Flagstaff’s grisly past into the book, Haunted Flagstaff. The collection, which is set to publish Monday, recounts numerous well-known haunts, such as The Weatherford Hotel, the Orpheum Theatre, Hotel Monte Vista, the Flagstaff Public Library and the Leroux home where a Marie Green Walkup brutally murdered her children seemingly without explanation in the 1930s.
Johnson doesn't necessarily think she's attracted to the macabre and was quick to point out that not every haunting is automatically negative, referencing the woman in white who allegedly haunts the Orpheum and the friendly ghost, Mabel Milligan, who lingers in the offices of the Flagstaff Convention and Visitors Bureau, flipping lights on and interfering with staff's computers.
Johnson's newest book extends far past the confines of the walking tour. She also explores the Railroad Depot — home to countless deaths of both the accidental and intentional since its constriction — as well as The Museum Club, McMillan building and the downtown building that once housed the home and residence of Dr. R.O. Raymond.
Each retelling is packed not only with the original lore but Johnson also delves into the history of each place and any evidence documenting the original event.
"I always try to put the history in there too because that makes it so much more," she said. "The fact that there are ghosts too is just the icing on the cake."
Northern Arizona University's own resident spooky scholar, Dr. Karen Renner, also takes a turn at debunking some of the more familiar myths in a fascinating afterword. Stories from across the country share similarities to Flagstaff's tales, while others find their own historical grounding.
But it doesn't make the collection any less fun.
"But as a hopeful skeptic, I wait to be happily proven wrong," Renner writes.
Haunted Flagstaff will be available locally wherever books are sold and on arcadiapublishing.com starting June 6.
Bree Burkitt is a contributor to the Arizona Daily Sun. Reach her at breeburkitt@gmail.com. | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/local-author-explores-flagstaffs-haunted-history-in-new-book/article_e483d29a-c769-58b5-8053-445612040a63.html | 2022-06-04T19:28:30 | 1 | https://azdailysun.com/news/local/local-author-explores-flagstaffs-haunted-history-in-new-book/article_e483d29a-c769-58b5-8053-445612040a63.html |
BLOOMINGTON — Katie Stelle-Mardis knew nothing about the dam in a detention pond behind her childcare business in Normal.
She didn’t know anything about it until her assistant administrator, who lives in a nearby subdivision, showed her a letter from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources notifying residents that they could provide a statement on the dam owner’s attempt to obtain a maintenance and operation permit.
The letter is dated April 6, but Stelle-Mardis said her assistant administrator received it about two days ahead of the April 29 deadline to submit a statement.
Stelle-Mardis, owner of Katie’s Kids Learning Center at 2003 Jacobssen Drive in Normal, did not get a public notice letter. The pond nearly touches the backyard playground area of her business, but she likely did not receive a letter because her business is not downstream from the dam and, therefore, would not be impacted by a dam failure, according to the dam’s most recent inspection in November 2020.
She later learned that the dam’s hazardous potential, if it failed, is classified as “high” by a federal database of dams.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ National Inventory of Dams categorize dams by the hazard they pose if they were to fail — from low to significant to high.
A high-hazard dam is likely to result in the loss of at least one human life if it were to fail. The failure of a significant hazard dam is likely to result in economic or environmental losses, but not the loss of human life. Damage from the failure of a low-hazard dam is less severe and often contained to the owner’s property.
The areas downstream from four dams in McLean County could see fatal consequences in the event of a dam failure, according to the database.
McLean County’s other three high-hazardous dams are the Miller Park Lake Dam at Miller Park in Bloomington, the Moraine View Dam at Moraine View State Park in LeRoy, and the North Pointe Lake Dam near Northpoint Elementary School in Bloomington.
The likelihood of dam failures, however, remains low and the inspection reports for each of the county's high-hazardous dams do not spell out any emergency conditions that would lead to a dam failure or require immediate repairs.
Further, the low-to-high hazard classification has nothing to do with the physical dam’s structure and the ratings are indirectly related to dam upgrades, IDNR Dam Safety Section Manager Paul Mauer said.
“It’s about what would happen if the dam failed catastrophically,” Mauer said.
The four high-hazardous dams in McLean County are earth embankment dams, which is artificially constructed as a mound of soil or rock and usually covered with grass.
McLean County has two dams classified as a “significant” hazard — the Lake Bloomington dam and the Brian Lake dam in Downs. There are 10 dams in the county classified as a “low” hazard.
McLean County dam inspections
Owners of significant and high hazardous dams are required to have a permit from IDNR to operate and maintain the dam. Annual inspections and submitting inspection reports to the state are required under the IDNR Office of Water Resources permit program.
“The water stored behind a dam represents potential energy which can create a hazard to lives and property located downstream of it,” guidelines for inspections in the state’s dam safety program state. “To minimize the risk associated with the storage of water a dam must be properly designed, constructed, operated, and maintained.”
There are about 1,900 dams in the state’s inventory, but only about 700 permitted dams.
Private owners of permitted dams are required to hire an engineer to inspect the dam, who then submits an inspection report to the state.
The letter sent to Stelle-Mardis’ administrative assistant was an IDNR notice “to all interested parties that an application has been received from Country Acres Land Corp.” for a permit authorizing the operation and maintenance of the Fort Jesse Detention Pond dam.
Most high hazardous dams also have an emergency action plan; however, the dam adjacent to Stelle-Mardis’ business is the only dam in McLean County that is classified as high hazardous and is without an emergency action plan.
Country Acres Land Corporation could not be reached for comment. A company phone line has been disconnected.
“This is all new information to me, so we have not put anything specifically in place in regards to it,” Stelle-Mardis said about whether her business knew about the dam or if they had taken precautions to safeguard their property.
But she said the roughly 40 employees and 120 children who are inside the building each weekday are capable of evacuating on short notice in an emergency.
“This is interesting to me, but I definitely want to make sure that I’m advocating for my property and for the area,” Stelle-Mardis said. “We don’t want a dam failure and that to affect my business.”
Eighteen occupied homes, two commercial buildings and two roads or bridges are within the dam’s affected floodplain, all of which is at most a quarter of a mile downstream, according to its inspection report.
Engineers outlined six deficiencies to the Fort Jesse Detention Pond dam in its November 2020 inspection that require minor maintenance. They include some erosion on the dam’s upstream embankment, which engineers could fix by adding upstream face slope protection such as fabric or layers of rock riprap.
Other minor deficiencies to the dam include mole mounds on the south and west sides of the dam, woody vegetation on the dam’s embankment face and its inside face.
The Miller Park Lake dam, constructed in 1896, underwent a repair in 2011 to fix two small seepage leaks on its west side, causing water to run onto Morris Avenue.
Bloomington Public Works Director Kevin Kothe said repairs for the city’s dams require a low budget and that funding is adequate.
“Other than just routine maintenance to keep it mowed and if there’s anything along the shoreline that’s kind of eroding sometimes we have to add more riprap or shoreline protection, but in general there’s not a lot to do with it,” Kothe said.
Miller Park Lake Dam is considered high hazardous because if it were to fail, a massive amount of water would spill onto Morris Avenue, toward Goose Creek and into a residential area. Miller Park Zoo and areas north of the lake are not at risk, Kothe said.
Twelve occupied homes, a mobile home court, an agriculture building, a commercial building and a road or bridge are in Miller Park Lake Dam’s downstream affected floodplain, all of which is about a mile away from the dam, according to its latest inspection report.
The Miller Park Lake Dam possesses a control structure to regulate the lake’s water level. It is essentially a hole in the west side of the lake where water flows into if the lake’s water level rises. It also has an emergency spillway — a steep embankment where water would rush down in the case of a dam failure — on the northwest end of the lake near the Miller Park parking lot.
A March 2021 inspection of Miller Park Lake Dam made recommendations for two minor deficiencies identified: regular observations on seepage around a siphon pipe, to apply fertilizer and mow the dam regularly due to high weed content and bare spots throughout the dam.
The inspection report recommended to "monitor possible seepage around siphon pipe," but said there was no visible evidence of seepage on the Miller Park Lake Dam.
Mauer said the Moraine View Dam, which IDNR owns, also doesn’t require many repairs and there are no pending upgrades.
A November 2020 inspection report notes some leakage through joints in the concrete drop structure of the spillway which has caused some concrete damage at the joint — "the equivalent of a pothole in the road," Mauer said.
Mauer said the leakage and concrete damage does not impact safety at this point.
"The water is leaking into a space designed to transfer water through the dam. If the damage gets to the point that it may cause the structure to collapse, plugging the spillway conduit through the dam, it becomes a safety issue," Mauer said. "The rate of progression here is too slow for it to be considered a safety issue now. We will follow the annual reporting to determine when it needs to be addressed for safety."
He added that the next most likely result is that it will start to leak enough water that the lake does not stay full, which would pose issues for the park's recreation opportunities before it becomes a safety issue.
The North Pointe Lake Dam received two recommendations in its May 2021 inspection.
Private inspectors said minor maintenance is needed on the dam's embankment and abutment slopes because of erosion occurring in isolated areas. Minor maintenance also is recommended on the dam's vegetative cover because there are several bare spots where erosion is occurring, engineers wrote.
Nationwide increase in high-hazardous dams
An Associated Press analysis tallied more than 2,200 high-hazard dams in poor or unsatisfactory condition across the U.S. — up substantially from a similar AP review conducted three years ago. The actual number is likely higher, although it’s unclear because a couple of states don’t track such data and many federal agencies refuse to release details about their dams’ conditions or the dangers they pose.
There are a variety of reasons for the rising number of troubled dams: A heightened emphasis by some state regulators has turned up new concerns. Deferred maintenance has resulted in worsened conditions. Dams that were built decades ago now often pose more of a hazard than originally envisioned because homes, businesses and highways have cropped up below them.
Mauer said owners of high-hazard dams do lend themselves to be pressed harder by IDNR to keep the dam properly repaired and sometimes improved.
The $1 trillion infrastructure bill signed last year by President Joe Biden will provide about $3 billion for dam-related projects, but that’s just a fraction of what’s needed for safety upgrades and repairs to the thousands of dams across the country.
A changing climate also plays a role. A warming atmosphere can bring stronger storms with heavier rainfall that can overwhelm older dams lacking adequately sized spillway outlets.
Mauer said there are unanswered questions that the IDNR and others in his position are posing to the federal government.
“We need a scientific study to look at what climate change has done, is doing and potentially will do to how much it can rain,” Mauer said. “Not how often it rains hard, not whether those typical heavy rainstorms are increasing — we kind of know that already.”
What remains unknown is how much water the atmosphere can hold and how much water it can unload in a storm.
The state has dams that are designed to withhold catastrophic storms, but even those would need improvements if it is revealed that the sizes of catastrophic storms are increasing, he said.
“The question that really is at hand is, how much water can the atmosphere hold and does a constantly warming atmosphere hold significantly more water?” Mauer said. “That’s the question we’re asking them to give us the answer to. That will then work its way down into all of the things we do on the (question of), what would the results of a catastrophic failure be?”
Condition:Standardized condition the latest state inspect assigned to a dam. Ranges from good down to unsatisfactory.
Hazard rating: Standardized categories across state data for a dam's hazard level, which is low, significant or high. Significant denotes likely loss of property if dam fails, high denotes likely loss of human life during dam failure. | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/4-mclean-county-dams-are-classified-as-high-hazard-where-they-are-and-what-it/article_39c03fcc-d860-11ec-8e7e-3b985dfd3ee3.html | 2022-06-04T19:33:25 | 0 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/4-mclean-county-dams-are-classified-as-high-hazard-where-they-are-and-what-it/article_39c03fcc-d860-11ec-8e7e-3b985dfd3ee3.html |
Renovation work at the former Sears building at Gateway Mall is finally set to get underway.
The owner of the vacant store, Elm Creek Real Estate, filed a $4.5 million building permit last month for work that includes exterior renovation and partitioning of the building into multiple bays for future tenants, and resurfacing of the parking lot.
The 120,000-square-foot building at 6400 O St. has been vacant since March 2019, when the Sears store closed after the company had declared bankruptcy, ending a run of more than 90 years in Lincoln, including nearly 50 years at Gateway.
Elm Creek bought the building in December 2019, along with the former Red Lobster and a vacant lot, all of which were owned by Sears. The purchase price was $6.5 million.
In a January letter to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department seeking to amend the current use permit, Elm Creek said it plans to demolish the former Sears Auto service building and build a new building there of up to 16,000 square feet that will have a mixture of retail and restaurant uses.
John Dewhurst, president of commercial real estate firm Hard Corner LLC, who is the leasing agent for the property, declined to say whether any leases have been signed.
"The tenants typically announce themselves," he said. Dewhurst previously said the plan is to fill the redeveloped building with national retail and restaurant tenants.
A building permit filed May 27 indicates Lululemon Athletica plans to open a store at SouthPointe Pavilions at 27th Street and Pine Lake Road.
The $625,000 permit does not identify the specific space in the mall where renovations are taking place, and officials from RED Development, the mall's owner, declined to comment.
According to SouthPointe's website, it has nine vacant spaces, ranging in size from less than 2,000 square feet to more than 10,000 square feet.
Lululemon, which sells high-end athletic and leisure wear for men, women and children, has had a store in downtown Lincoln at 14th and P streets since November 2019. Before that, it had a temporary store at Gateway Mall from August 2018-May 2019.
Officials from the company did not respond to a request for comment.
The utility said a number of companies operating in the Lincoln area are using aggressive sales tactics and misrepresenting the benefits customers receive from installing solar panels on their homes.
The Lincoln-based student finance company cut jobs in multiple states, with a “small number in Nebraska." A spokesman for the company attributed the layoffs to the student loan payment moratorium.
A $4.5 million building permit has been filed for renovations at the former Sears at Gateway Mall, which is being redeveloped into a mixed-use development with both retail and restaurant users. | https://journalstar.com/business/local/retail-roundup-sears-work-finally-getting-underway/article_0e59ab5a-7fe9-559d-8315-6ae0119a7649.html | 2022-06-04T19:33:53 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/business/local/retail-roundup-sears-work-finally-getting-underway/article_0e59ab5a-7fe9-559d-8315-6ae0119a7649.html |
ALBANY -- When Steven Belk applied for the city of Albany's vacant Recreation and Parks director's position in 2014, he wasn't even granted an interview.
Rather than pout over the rebuff by hometown officials, Belk "learned a valuable lesson" and went to work on what he found to be deficiencies in his application.
On Tuesday, Belk, newly hired for the position that "brings him full-circle" back to the program that played such a big part in his early life, unveiled his unique brand of enthusiasm to a department that city officials admit has become certainly less than it could be over the past few years.
Hired by City Manager Steven Carter to run the city's recreation program, Belk said Friday he's "already wide open" in his efforts to revive a program that at one time was recognized as one of the state's best.
"I'm so fired up, you have no idea," Belk said as he talked about the potential in the department. "I'm confident we're going to turn things around here, and the people of Albany deserve that. In fact, I'm asking the community to join us -- the businesses, the schools, the neighborhoods -- because this is the community's recreation department.
"I feel I'm getting the full support of the city manager, the assistant city managers, the city commissioners. Everybody's welcomed me with open arms. We've got a veteran staff here, many of whom have been here through good times and bad times. I think, like me, they're ready to return to the good times."
Belk knows a thing or two about the city recreation department. Born and raised in Albany, Belk as an 8-year-old joined his brothers Andrew, then 12, and Jason, 10, in integrating the city's recreation football program.
"We lived on Corn Avenue (in south Albany) until my parents separated," Belk said. "My mom, who was a victim of domestic violence, moved us to Seventh Avenue, and that's where I gained a lot of nourishing. The men in that neighborhood mentored the boys, and that had a big impact on me. That's where I started growing up, where I was taught to be a man, and it was just a stone's throw from outside this building we're in.
"I feel like I've come full-circle. In that rec football program -- I scored 36 touchdowns that first year -- I learned valuable lessons about teamwork, about being on time, being responsible. Playing rec football is something I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do, but it had a lasting impact on me."
Belk went on to star in athletics and academics at Albany High School, and he played college basketball at Morris College in Sumter, S.C.
"My mom always stressed academics, and one of the things I'm most proud of is being named to the NCAA All-Academic team," he said.
Belk went on to earn a master's degree in city and regional planning at Ohio State University and started his professional career as an adapted Physical Education instructor in the Dougherty County School System. He eventually became the city's Special Olympics coordinator, a job he said he loved.
"I live by the Special Olympics motto: 'Let me win, but if I can't win let me be brave in the attempt'," Belk said. "Mr. Hank McGarrity is the one who got me involved with Special Olympics. I was working with his son, who was one of my favorites -- and I didn't know it was his son -- and Mr. McGarrity approached me one day and said, 'I like the way you interact with these kids.' He got me involved."
Belk later worked as a field representative for Congressman Sanford Bishop and with the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. before taking a position running the largest recreation program in the Job Corps network at Turner Job Corps Center in Albany. He worked at Job Corps centers in Washington, D.C.; Gainesville, Fla.; and two in New York. He closed out his pre-Albany Rec career working with the Gainesville Police Department's re-entry intervention program for prisoners ages 18-26 who were released from incarceration.
"All of those things I've done in my life, all of the positions I've held, led to me to this place today," Belk said. "I understand now about working with and managing a budget, about managing major projects."
Count Albany Mayor Bo Dorough among citizens who are excited about Belk's hiring.
"I'm excited that Steve was selected for the position," the mayor said. "He's a native Albanian, and he was here when our recreation program was such a success. He knows where the challenges are and understands them.
"I think the city is in a position where it can replace the facilities that have outlived their usefulness, and Steven can help us prioritize that process."
Belk said his emphasis in the recreation program will center around a holistic approach.
"There is emphasis in sports when you talk about recreation, but I believe there has to be balance," he said. "We also need to look at the soft skills, the life skills of all the young men and women in our community. I think about the impact the department had when it was thriving in the past. That's where we want to get back to.
"I'm so excited about this opportunity. I don't feel that I'm under pressure; I feel I'm working with people who are confident I can do the jo. I'm home now. And I'm here to stay." | https://www.albanyherald.com/local/full-circle-steven-belk-returns-home-to-take-over-recreation-department/article_9bfc9d34-e422-11ec-a9f8-8beb9ea9d454.html | 2022-06-04T19:49:52 | 0 | https://www.albanyherald.com/local/full-circle-steven-belk-returns-home-to-take-over-recreation-department/article_9bfc9d34-e422-11ec-a9f8-8beb9ea9d454.html |
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) – Authorities with the Kingsport Police Department are “strongly encouraging” citizens to avoid the area near McDonald’s located at 1620 East Stone Drive out of an abundance of caution due to a bomb threat for the next hour or so.
“So far, nothing has been substantiated to give any credibility to the threat; however it remains under active investigation,” according to Patton.
McDonald’s received the anonymous phone call bomb threat at around 2 p.m., according to Tom Patton with the KPD. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/kpd-kingsport-e-stone-dr-mcdonalds-receives-bomb-threat/ | 2022-06-04T19:51:17 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/kpd-kingsport-e-stone-dr-mcdonalds-receives-bomb-threat/ |
PORTLAND, Ore. — Nurses at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center have reached a tentative agreement with the company on a new contract, averting a strike that the nurses voted overwhelmingly to authorize last month.
Both Providence and the Oregon Nurses Association released statements on Saturday heralding the deal after nearly eight months of negotiations and at least 20 bargaining sessions.
The contract, if ratified, would cover nearly 1,600 registered nurses at the St. Vincent facility. It does not include nurses at two other Providence hospitals who voted to authorize a strike earlier this week.
"In the coming week, ONA will provide [Providence St. Vincent] represented registered nurses more details on the tentative agreement and the planned ratification vote," Providence said in a statement. "Specifics of the tentative agreement will be available to the general public following the ratification vote by represented nurses."
ONA said that the agreement is for a two-year contract that would "take critical steps" to meet the union's demands for improved patient care and safety, higher nurse practice standards, keeping healthcare affordable and addressing the ongoing staffing shortages.
The St. Vincent contingent of nurses will hold a vote on whether to approve the contract in the coming weeks, and it would take effect immediately if ratified.
“Nurses are dedicated to putting our patients first. We stood up to one of the nation’s largest health care systems and we’ve reached an agreement to make immediate improvements to our patients’ health care,” said nurse John Smeltzer, ONA executive committee president at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center.
According to ONA, the deal includes an increase in wages of up to 14% over the next two years, which they expect to both help with retention and attract more nurses to the hospital. It also includes guarantees for better access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and requires efforts from Providence to better manage staffing levels.
"[Providence St. Vincent] and ONA look forward to continuing our long history of working together collaboratively to support the practice of nursing and providing high-quality, compassionate care for the patients and communities we serve," Providence said.
ONA is still bargaining individually with Providence Willamette Falls, Providence Milwaukie, and Providence Hood River. Nurses at Hood River are working to organize an informational picket, ONA said, but have not approached a strike authorization vote as yet.
According to the union, Providence administrators and the nurses at these three other facilities are "much further apart" at the bargaining table than they were at St. Vincent. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/nurses-providence-st-vincent-deal-reached-strike-averted/283-aa32a2c2-86cf-437f-ac9b-47228c08cf03 | 2022-06-04T19:56:39 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/nurses-providence-st-vincent-deal-reached-strike-averted/283-aa32a2c2-86cf-437f-ac9b-47228c08cf03 |
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Airport is lighting up orange this weekend in solidarity with other landmarks around the country putting up orange displays in honor of gun violence victims.
The Wear Orange Weekend being observed around the nation aims to center victims of gun violence in the wake of recent shootings at a Texas elementary school, Tulsa hospital and elsewhere.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport joined in the observances with its awning going orange on Friday night.
Mayor Andre Dickens also tweeted a photo of himself in an orange and blue tie and noted he is a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
"Today I'm saying 'Enough is Enough.' The time for the US Senate t otake bold action on gun safety is NOW!" the mayor tweeted. | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-airport-orange-lights-gun-violence-victims/85-67205ebf-3db7-4aa7-bf32-ee3014aa960b | 2022-06-04T20:07:45 | 1 | https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/atlanta-airport-orange-lights-gun-violence-victims/85-67205ebf-3db7-4aa7-bf32-ee3014aa960b |
FEDERALSBURG, Md. — A Maryland man has been charged with second-degree murder and other counts in the killing of his 2-month-old son, according to authorities.
The infant, Chance Pierce, was transported to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital, then taken to Nemours Children’s Hospital in Delaware, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
An autopsy determined the child died from blunt force trauma and ruled his death a homicide, according to the news release.
Sean Pierce was initially taken into custody on an unrelated outstanding arrest warrant in Pennsylvania before being charged in connection with his son’s death, police said. He faces a slew of charges, including second-degree murder, manslaughter, first-degree child abuse resulting in death and neglect of a minor.
Court records indicate he is being held without bond and is eligible for a public defender. They don’t list an attorney who could speak on his behalf. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/police-maryland-man-charged-in-death-of-2-month-old-son/2022/06/04/4d53e2b0-e435-11ec-ae64-6b23e5155b62_story.html | 2022-06-04T20:13:30 | 1 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/police-maryland-man-charged-in-death-of-2-month-old-son/2022/06/04/4d53e2b0-e435-11ec-ae64-6b23e5155b62_story.html |
SAN ANTONIO — Bexar County Sheriff's is expected to provide an update after a woman was taken against her will on the far southwest side Saturday afternoon.
BCSO and SWAT responded to the 11200 block of Briggs Road after receiving information about a woman being taken against her will. SWAT was called out after the residents inside the location closed the door and refused to comply with demands, officials say.
Authorities say this residence is the same place where officials busted a human smuggling case in February.
Related story: BCSO deputies rescue migrants in alleged human smuggling bust on the far southwest side
BCSO then gassed the residence and took one person into custody.
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information is received. Please check back for updates. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/bcso-one-person-in-custody-following-woman-taken-against-will-news/273-163432de-4b4e-4f8a-b828-bc9fce36fc8e | 2022-06-04T20:13:51 | 0 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/bcso-one-person-in-custody-following-woman-taken-against-will-news/273-163432de-4b4e-4f8a-b828-bc9fce36fc8e |
After jurors convicted Frank Atwood for the 1984 kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old Tucson girl Vicki Lynne Hoskinson, jury foreman Andrew Bradshaw told the Arizona Daily Star, “We made the right decision, and we’ll never doubt it.”
His mind hasn’t changed in the 35 years since.
Bradshaw’s only lingering question about the case that shook the Old Pueblo: Why hasn’t Atwood’s sentence been carried out yet?
“I’m irritated as a father that it’s taken 35 years,” said the retired construction project manager and long-time Phoenix resident. “He’s lived a little over four times as long as that little girl, and he did it on our nickel.”
Atwood was convicted on March 26, 1987, and sentenced to die six weeks later. Of the 112 inmates on Arizona’s death row, only two have been there longer than him.
Barring a last-minute stay, the 66-year-old is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 8 at the Eyman state prison complex in Florence.
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“I find no pleasure in what’s about to happen to him, because there shouldn’t be any (pleasure) in it,” Bradshaw said. “I’m just one of those who believes it should have been done 30 years ago.”
Bradshaw was working as a hospital building operations manager when he was picked to serve on the jury for the high-profile case, which was moved from Tucson to Phoenix at the request of Atwood’s attorney.
After 10 weeks of testimony, the jury spent about 11 hours over three days reviewing the largely circumstantial case before reaching its decision.
Bradshaw remembers Atwood sitting there staring at him as the verdicts were read. No single piece of evidence convinced him of Atwood’s guilt, he said. “For me, anyway, it was everything.”
Bradshaw said his opinion of the death penalty hasn’t changed over the years, either. He believed in it then, and he believes in it now.
In this case especially, he said, “It’s justified and warranted and deserved.”
During the trial in 1987, Bradshaw and his fellow jurors were under strict instructions not to read any news accounts, so he had his wife clip stories from the local papers and save them for later.
He still has a scrapbook filled with those news clippings, though he said he’s barely glanced at it in the decades since the trial.
“I don’t even know why I’ve kept it all this time, quite honestly,” he said. “Probably, on June 9th, I’m going to burn it.”
A frantic search
Vicki Lynne Hoskinson vanished from her Flowing Wells neighborhood on the afternoon of Sept. 17, 1984, after riding her bicycle to the Circle K at Wetmore and Romero to mail a birthday card to her aunt.
Her 11-year-old sister, Stephanie, found Vicki’s pink bike lying on its side in the middle of a quiet residential street less than a quarter of a mile from their home. The blue-eyed girl with short curly hair and freckles was never seen alive again.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the crime left an indelible mark on both Tucson and the sheriff’s department.
“Vicki Lynne is a name that you don't have to say anything else. Just Vicki Lynne, and everybody knows,” said Nanos, who was a patrol deputy at the time, still in his first year with the department.
“This was a time when our agency wasn't as robust as it is now,” he said. “I think we grew a lot with that case.”
Chief Deputy Rick Kastigar, now the department’s second in command, was a 29-year-old public information officer with the agency in 1984.
He said strangers abducting children was “very, very rare” back then – and still is today – but officers recognized almost immediately that “this was one of those rare events.”
“We didn't have the resources we have now. We didn't have the staffing we have now,” he said. “But we involved every element of our criminal investigations team and our patrol team looking for her.”
For weeks, Kastigar worked out of the command post investigators set up at Vicki’s school, Homer Davis Elementary, just across Romero Road from where her bike was found. He said he would get there early in the morning to be briefed by investigators, then spend the rest of the day updating the media and logging tips about the case.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies soon joined the search as well. As many as 70 people were working out of the school at one time, Kastigar said, not counting all the newspaper and television reporters or the local residents who wandered in looking to help.
“The upswell from the community was amazing. It truly was,” he said. “People were showing up with cupcakes, coffee, well wishes, flowers (and) positive sentiments” to comfort Vicki’s dad, Ron Hoskinson, mom, Debbie Carlson, and stepdad, George Carlson, who spent many anguished hours at the command post.
Grocery stores dropped off food and drinks for the search parties. Local business owners chipped in, sometimes anonymously, to print the girl’s picture on fliers and billboards and bumper stickers that read, “Don’t forget Vicki Lynne.”
Within three days of the girl’s disappearance, tips led authorities to arrest a suspect in her kidnapping: a 28-year-old drifter in Texas named Frank Jarvis Atwood, who was staying in Tucson at the time of her abduction. Four months earlier, Atwood had been released on parole in California after serving less than four years of a five-year sentence for kidnapping and sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy.
Meanwhile, the frantic search for Vicki continued, and so did the anxiety sweeping southern Arizona.
“This community was afraid. There were a lot of unknowns,” said Kastigar, who had two young daughters at home back then. “They were just slightly younger than Vicki at the time, and it scared the hell out of me.”
On April 12, 1985, seven months after she disappeared, the girl's skeletal remains were found scattered in the desert at the west end of Ina Road. There was so little left that the medical examiner could not determine how she died or what else might have been done to her.
Atwood soon faced one count of first-degree murder along with the kidnapping charge.
Though none of Vicki's blood, fingerprints or hair was ever found inside of his car, forensic experts identified pink paint from her bicycle and a scrape from one of her pedals on the vehicle. Traces of nickel recovered from the bike were matched to the car’s bumper.
Authorities also had testimony from Atwood’s acquaintances, who saw him with blood on his clothes the afternoon of the abduction, and from a coach at Vicki’s school, who noticed a suspicious vehicle in a nearby alley that day and took down the license plate number for what turned out to be Atwood’s car.
All these years later, the case still stirs an emotional response in Kastigar – especially when he thinks about that innocent little girl, happily pedaling around her neighborhood with no understanding of “how vile and evil humans can be to other humans,” he said. “It’s just so sad to think of what likely happened to her.”
He expects Atwood’s death to bring some measure of comfort not just to Vicki’s family, but to those who were involved in searching for her and her killer, himself included.
“It's a circumstantial case, but it's very, very clear to me,” Kastigar said. “There's no doubt in my mind that we arrested the right guy, and that he is sitting awaiting his fate.”
Change of heart
Until about a month ago, George and Debbie Carlson were planning to skip Atwood’s execution.
Now Vicki’s parents are determined to be there to see things through, with emotional support from a number of their family members.
“We just changed our minds two or three weeks ago,” Debbie said Thursday from their home on the east side of Tucson. “Deep down, we wanted to see that final justice for Vicki, to be her representation there as her parents. I think that's what it finally came down to.”
They were warned to expect a flurry of late filings and rushed court proceedings in the days leading up to the execution, as Atwood, his legal team and his supporters fight to keep him alive. That’s exactly what has happened so far.
On May 24, the Carlsons traveled to the state prison in Florence to help convince the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency to deny Atwood’s request to be spared. Then on Friday, they headed to Phoenix for a hearing on a petition arguing against the execution procedure on grounds that it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. A judge has not yet ruled on Friday's effort.
They were still trying to decide whether to return to Phoenix on Monday for another hearing, this one challenging the clemency board’s decision based on how it conducted its meeting last month.
“Anything that's going before a judge, we're going, because I think it gives them a reminder that we're still here and we're still fighting for Vicki,” Debbie Carlson said.
It’s been a long fight.
The distraught young couple that appeared on the front page of the Star on Sept. 20, 1984, holding their missing daughter’s Cabbage Patch Kid, has now been married for 42 years. They have six grandchildren ranging in age from 6 to 21 — blessings delivered to them by Vicki’s two older sisters and younger brother.
Some of George and Debbie’s oldest friends are people they met while searching for their daughter, including several local detectives, the FBI agent who was assigned to their case and their advisor from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
At the Carlsons’ home, a piece of polished wood hangs above their dining room table beneath Debbie’s favorite Bible verse: “With God, all things are possible.” The wood was salvaged from a palo verde tree that was planted in Vicki’s honor at Homer Davis Elementary School in 1985 and grew for 30 years before it was blown down in a thunderstorm.
A lot has happened to Atwood in the past 35 years, too, despite his incarceration.
He got married in 1991 to a woman he began corresponding with shortly after his conviction. He has since been baptized in the Greek Orthodox Christian church and completed enough correspondence courses for two associate's degrees, a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in literature. He even has his own website where he sells the books he has written behind bars on religion, criminal justice and his case.
A large group of supporters from Atwood’s church appeared at his clemency hearing, where he maintained his innocence but said he hoped his execution would bring peace to Vicki’s family.
The Carlsons just want it to be over.
“Enough’s enough,” Debbie Carlson said. “I'm 67 years old. George is 70. We've spent over half of our lives fighting for justice for Vicki.”
“We don't know what normal is anymore," George Carlson added. “I think we're excited to experience that again. To be able to wake up in the morning and not have that cloud over you. Is the AG’s office going to call? Did he file another motion? Is there going to be another delay? We haven’t had that in 38 years.”
To them, Atwood’s death is a chance for a new life.
“I don't like the word closure, because it's never closed. We will never have closure, because we won't have Vicki,” Debbie Carlson said. “But it will be a new beginning. We can close that chapter out, and we can start anew. That's what we're looking forward to.”
Photos: The search for Vicki Lynne Hoskinson in 1984-85
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Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@tucson.com or 573-4283. On Twitter: @RefriedBrean | https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/atwood-execution-date-stirs-memories-of-case-that-tramatized-tucson/article_8c307ce4-e1f3-11ec-ab55-2ffb109ec882.html | 2022-06-04T20:26:05 | 1 | https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/atwood-execution-date-stirs-memories-of-case-that-tramatized-tucson/article_8c307ce4-e1f3-11ec-ab55-2ffb109ec882.html |
Police have a lead in the shooting of a livery cab driver hit in the chest while on the job earlier this week.
New images released by the NYPD show the first look at three males wanted in connection to Thursday morning's shooting in the Parkchester section of the Bronx.
Officials say the 59-year-old driver was behind the wheel of a livery cab, with three men inside, when bullets flew into the car around 2 a.m.
The driver was struck in the chest and had to be transported to Jacobi Hospital where he was last listed in critical condition, police said.
The shooting occurred near Wood Avenue between Taylor and Thieriot Avenue.
Copyright NBC New York | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/trio-wanted-in-livery-cab-driver-shooting-in-the-bronx/3720293/ | 2022-06-04T20:35:14 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/trio-wanted-in-livery-cab-driver-shooting-in-the-bronx/3720293/ |
BOISE, Idaho — Former KTVB News anchor and journalist Mark Johnson was chosen as a Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) 2022 Silver Circle Honoree.
On Friday, Johnson was one of seven honorees inducted into the Silver Circle at the Fremont Studios in Seattle, Wash.
According to the NATAS website, the Silver Circle honors "individuals who have served in the industry for a minimum of 25 years, with the majority being spent in our region. Individuals selected for induction have done more than work professionally for 25 years."
After three decades at Idaho's leading news organization, Johnson retired from news in December 2021.
In his storied career, Johnson was the face of Idaho news on KTVB’s top-rated evening and late newscasts and a champion for countless community nonprofit organizations.
He covered a Super Bowl, a World Series, Fiesta Bowls, NCAA basketball tournaments, and five Olympic games, winning a national Edward R. Murrow award for his work involving the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.
A constant in the lives of generations of Idaho families, Mark Johnson watched 30 years of Idaho history unfold from his spot in the KTVB studio. Viewers tuning in knew from the smile on his face or his calm, measured tone what kind of day Idaho was having. And on some days, he let Idaho know what he really thought by “Just Sayin’” what was on his mind.
“It has been a blessing and an incredible honor to serve our region while working at the most amazing station in America for the better part of my life. I never imagined I would go to so many places around the country and the world to cover events and stories that mattered to Idahoans," Johnson said. "More importantly for me, being able to live and raise a family in such an amazing community while working with hundreds of colleagues who have been more like a family to me has been the greatest gift."
During his tenure as lead anchor at KTVB, the team earned multiple awards for broadcast excellence, including regional Emmy® awards for the News at 10. He also served a number of local non-profits, including The Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers - Big Sisters, United Cerebral Palsy, United Way, Salvation Army, First Tee of Idaho, Make-A-Wish, the Boise Rescue Mission, Dress For Success, and others.
On Dec. 20, 2021, Johnson received a key to the city from Boise Mayor Lauren McLean.
"Thank you, for all that you have given to the city of Boise. Thirty years, three decades of service, of storytelling," McLean said. "So many people in this community truly value the support you have given to non-profits and mentoring you have done for so many, the storytelling that is incredibly important to remind us of who we are, and so for that, I would like to present you a key to the city."
Mark Johnson’s final broadcast at KTVB was on December 23, 2021.
An awards show will be livestreamed on the Northwest Chapter NATAS website at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
The organization recognizes broadcast excellence in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/mark-johnson-inducted-into-emmys-silver-circle/277-45de19ee-9f1b-4668-b939-00e3e6268ebc | 2022-06-04T20:39:09 | 0 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/mark-johnson-inducted-into-emmys-silver-circle/277-45de19ee-9f1b-4668-b939-00e3e6268ebc |
NORMAL — Over 100 people wearing orange T-shirts recognized National Gun Violence Awareness Day and launched the Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) Center Saturday morning at Anderson Park in Normal.
McLean County Moms Demand Action, a nonprofit that advocates for gun law reforms, organized the event, which also included the YWCA, Western Avenue Community Center and the West Market Street Council. The VIP Center will offer a space for youth in the community to have conversations about gun violence and conflict in their lives.
Dameca Kirkwood will lead the VIP Center in a pop-up format this June and July. Kirkwood's son, Trevonte, was killed by gun violence in 2018.
"This has been so exhilarating and sad," she said. "And, if I'm being honest, I hate it."
Kirkwood explained that she never wanted to have to be an advocate for gun violence. She said, as a mother, she had to be an advocate for peace.
"I'm not going anywhere," she said, "and I'm not going to stop."
Tameka Love of Peoria recently lost her son, Kanye Stowers, to gun violence in Bloomington. She said that people showing up and supporting gun law reform honors victims of gun violence.
"They meant something," Love said.
Karyn Smith of the Normal Town Council spoke and presented the VIP Center and Moms Demand Action with a mayor's proclamation.
"It pains me to be a member of the political class that for so long has done so little," Smith said. "I'm asking you to reach out to your representatives, especially those in the Senate."
Smith shared her personal relationship to gun violence when she lived in Georgia. She urged the community to "keep pushing" and to "counter the volume (of the gun lobby)."
Laurie Bell of the West Market Street Council sang a song she wrote, titled "Mourn and Organize," which calls for political action to end gun violence.
After guests and dignitaries had finished speaking, Moms Demand Action led the group in a remembrance walk around Anderson Park.
Bloomington Police Chief Jamal Simington attended the event to support the families affected by gun violence.
"It's the right message to everyone in the community that you're bringing people together to solve a problem," he said.
Simington spent time talking to a young boy who lost his father to gun violence.
"I've been in his shoes," Simington said. He said the VIP Center is "one of the ways to prevent (violence) at the end of the day."
Eileen Thomas drove from Peoria to attend the event. She said she was motivated by recent violence nationwide.
"That last school shooting in Texas knocked my feet out from under me," she said. "(You) feel so helpless when you see that on TV. That's the least I could do is put an orange shirt on."
Kirkwood called the community to action to fight gun violence.
"As a community, let's lessen this," she said.
She continued, "I know the feeling of pain, of endless pain. And I don't want anyone to feel that."
Bell said they are working to have a permanent VIP Center in the future.
The VIP Center can be contacted via email at vipofblono@gmail.com or by phone at 309-362-0114. | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/bloomingtons-violence-intervention-and-prevention-center-makes-debut-saturday/article_72764a1e-e431-11ec-8f4a-a7d13cbaf8c7.html | 2022-06-04T20:47:17 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/bloomingtons-violence-intervention-and-prevention-center-makes-debut-saturday/article_72764a1e-e431-11ec-8f4a-a7d13cbaf8c7.html |
TACOMA, Wash. — A three-day event this weekend in Tacoma will host pinball gamers from across the Northwest to meet and enjoy their favorite pastime.
The Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center will showcase over 400 pinball and arcade machines, and attendees will see the latest tech in pinballing and play custom models and machines dating back to the 50s.
This is the first time the show has been held since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and organizers have said they’re on track to get 3,500 - 4,000 people out this weekend.
“If there’s a title you’re looking to play, you’ll probably find it here,” said Chase Nunes, a volunteer.
This weekend will also give the Northwest’s pinball culture a chance to shine.
“The pinball culture in the Northwest has been around for a very long time. You take a pin bar like Shortie’s for example, that’s been in downtown Seattle for over 25 years,” Nunes said. “I remember growing up and going to the arcade in the mall, strip malls, and now that’s kind of resurged.”
According to David Latimer, an attendee, one of the main appeals to pinball is that it exists here in the real world, and it brings a different experience than if you were playing on a computer or console.
“It’s a physical machine,” Latimer said. “There’s virtual pinball, but it’s just not quite the same. Moving the machine physically, and there's all these quirks too.”
Veteran players hope that they can pass that excitement on to the next generation of pinball players and keep moving the community forward.
And they have some tips if you’re just starting out.
“If you don’t know the rules, just aim for the flashing lights and you’ll have a great time,” said Nunes.
The convention will be happening throughout the weekend at The Greater Tacoma Convention Center. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online. All games are free to play. | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/tacoma/northwest-pinball-arcade-show-tacoma/281-51430ee5-7a23-4ff4-b537-bd8948b1412e | 2022-06-04T20:51:58 | 1 | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/tacoma/northwest-pinball-arcade-show-tacoma/281-51430ee5-7a23-4ff4-b537-bd8948b1412e |
TACOMA, Wash. — Editor's note: The video above on a planned re-design of Owen Beach originally aired in February 2020.
Point Defiance Park's Owen Beach officially reopened Saturday after being closed for 16 months due to climate-friendly renovations.
Metro Parks Tacoma closed the beach in February 2021 for the $6.3 million renovation project, a part of the 2015 Destination Point Defiance master plan.
Owen Beach reopened Saturday with renovations that include a new road and trail entry/exit, a bigger parking lot with ADA-accessible drop-off zones, new restrooms, benches, a climbable whale sculpture, a new facility to host community gatherings and science classes and more.
“These renovations have truly transformed Owen Beach into a destination for everyone,” said Joe Brady, deputy director of regional parks and attractions. “We are proud to have made such crucial practical and aesthetic improvements while protecting the forest habitat that makes Point Defiance so unique among American cities.”
Metro Parks Tacoma will host a public celebration on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tours.
In 2020, KING 5 first reported on the Owen Beach project, which was designed based off University of Washington research that shows the global mean sea level rise is projected to be about 2.8 feet higher by 2100.
All of the renovations were set back and uphill to allow for the rising sea levels.
“We have a responsibility as stewards of this gem within Point Defiance Park to ensure that generations to come are able to enjoy its peace and beauty, just as much as those who built it and those who have come since time immemorial," said Marty Stump, deputy director of planning and development. "Adapting to climate change is crucial, and Metro Parks is proud that we can do this on behalf of our community.”
For more information on Owen Beach, visit metroparkstacoma.org. | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/tacoma/owen-beach-tacoma-reopen-saturday/281-ce3c0e32-e950-4859-9399-88eb1cef6150 | 2022-06-04T20:52:04 | 1 | https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/tacoma/owen-beach-tacoma-reopen-saturday/281-ce3c0e32-e950-4859-9399-88eb1cef6150 |
AUSTIN, Texas — The Hill Country Conservancy hosted its fourth-annual National Trails Day Fun Run on the Violet Crown Trail at Dick Nichols Park Saturday, June 4. National Trails Day is a nationwide event held to encourage people to wander, discover and explore local trails to celebrate spending time outdoors.
Participants chose between a 5k or 1-mile route, running or walking, or simply came to cheer for participants.
After the run, Hill Country Conservancy welcomed everyone to celebrate with them at the finish line party! Tacos and coffee were served and there was live music by Will Dupuy.
Registration fees directly support Hill Country Conservancy’ operations of the Violet Crown Trail.
The Violet Crown Trail began as a vision to create the first regional trail system in Central Texas. Since then, Hill Country Conservancy (HCC) has spearheaded the trail-building effort, utilizing both public and private partnerships and working with multiple municipalities to turn their vision into a reality. Once both phases are realized, the Violet Crown Trail will be the longest trail of its kind in Central Texas, stretching 30-miles from a gateway trailhead in Zilker Park into publicly-owned Water Quality Protection Lands in Hays County.
The Hill Country Conservancy Fun Run promotes health and wellbeing throughout the community while highlighting the interconnectivity of the trail between neighborhoods, peaceful wooded areas, convenient urban amenities and neighborhood parks. One of the biggest parts of their work is to conserve and preserve wild spaces, wildlife and water throughout the Hill Country of Texas.
"A lot of that takes place on private land, so getting out on the trail shows you why it's so important, but we're working to make sure that we have clean water and plenty of it for all the generations to come, that we preserve our beautiful landscapes in the Hill Country and all the amazing wildlife that's out there," said Kathy Miller, CEO of Hill Country Conservancy.
Hill Country Conservancy is a nonprofit land trust committed to protecting not only the natural beauty and open spaces of the Texas Hill Country but also its economy. Hill Country Conservancy preserves our vital natural resources through conservation, community collaboration and engagement to sustain our region now and forever.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/run-for-the-hills-hill-country-conservancy-celebrates-national-trails-day/269-e667ce9e-81b0-4475-a6ac-7b9e837a0384 | 2022-06-04T21:09:57 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/run-for-the-hills-hill-country-conservancy-celebrates-national-trails-day/269-e667ce9e-81b0-4475-a6ac-7b9e837a0384 |
SAN ANTONIO — Lavaca County authorities on social media confirmed a train derailment Friday evening in the small community of Shiner has shut down multiple railroad crossings in town.
There was no immediate report on potential injuries or fatalities, and it's unknown at this point what may have caused the derailment.
Photos and video sent to KENS 5 by Jane Spakes shows several train cars mangled in a mess of metal as local law enforcement worked to secure the scene.
This is a developing story. Check back with KENS5.com for the latest updates.
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Over the years, KENS 5 has worked to transform local news. Our cameras have been the lens bringing history into local viewers' homes. We're proud of our legacy as we serve San Antonians today.
Today, KENS 5 continues to set the standard in local broadcasting and is recognized by its peers for excellence and innovation. The KENS 5 News team focuses on stories that really matter to our community.
You can find KENS 5 in more places than ever before, including KENS5.com, the KENS 5 app, the KENS 5 YouTube channel, KENS 5's Roku and Fire TV apps, and across social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more!
Want to get in touch with someone at KENS 5? You can send a message using our Contacts page or email one of our team members. | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/shiner-texas-train-derailment-accident-crash/273-19fcad02-c390-4bc4-9268-1e6fc377aac0 | 2022-06-04T21:09:58 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/shiner-texas-train-derailment-accident-crash/273-19fcad02-c390-4bc4-9268-1e6fc377aac0 |
Talk of new beginnings, close camaraderie and endless potential were at the forefront of the Tremper High School 58th commencement ceremony, as 350 students were presented their diplomas and proud family members and supporters looked on.
The commencement ceremony began Friday evening at Ameche Field, across from the school, with the Pledge of Allegiance, recited by Vivian Zgorzelski, followed by a performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner," sang by members of Tremper Chorale.
In keeping with tradition at the high school, a pre-recorded performance of “Selections from Phantom of the Opera” performed by the school's orchestra played while a slideshow highlighted "all of the big moments, smiles, laughs and accomplishments the graduates had achieved as they prepared for their leap into adulthood," ceremony organizers said.
Cooper Wood, who will attend the University of California-Berkeley this fall, was chosen by a panel of faculty members to give the commencement speech.
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Wood addressed the unprecedented times the graduates had faced during their time at Tremper High School and the ways in which it brought them all closer together.
“Your futures are all unwritten," he said, "and whatever you wish to fill its pages is just waiting to be penned in by you. Yet, the key to a great novel will not just be handed to you. You must use your initiative and your drive to draft the greatest story ever told — your story.”
Principal Steven Knecht also addressed the students, wearing a red robe signed by each member of the graduating class.
Knecht referenced the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” to capture his appreciation for the class of 2022.
"I wanted to talk to you about how I will remember this class for making me look handsome and smart — and a walking work of art,” he said, referencing the unique robe, which will be displayed at the school, and quoting the musical.
“You see this gown, those lyrics, are a direct reflection of you. You are a handsome class. You are strong people who were challenged in high school unlike any generation before you. You persevered. You now stand tall.”
Before awarding diplomas, the final person to speak was Kenosha Unified School District Interim Superintendent Beth Ormseth, who reminded students to “show grace, show kindness and be a good person."
In closing, Principal Knecht urged the students to "go make this city, state, nation or world better because of something you’ve done. I’m confident you will all do this: Because you are smart. Remember, always be a walking work of art.” | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/watch-now-kenoshas-tremper-high-school-graduation/article_29e12d26-e429-11ec-a15b-ff18a98ec04f.html | 2022-06-04T21:13:18 | 0 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/watch-now-kenoshas-tremper-high-school-graduation/article_29e12d26-e429-11ec-a15b-ff18a98ec04f.html |
SHIRLEY — An Earlville woman who died in a five-vehicle crash south of Shirley on Friday has been named by the McLean County Coroner's Office.
A press release from the coroner's office said Kimberly J. Grey, 65, was pronounced dead at 5:35 p.m. Friday at the scene of the crash, located 3 miles south of Shirley on southbound Interstate 55.
The press statement added Grey died from head injuries while driving a sport utility vehicle that was hit by a semi-trailer. The release said the woman was restrained at the time of the crash.
Toxicology results are pending, the coroner's office said.
Illinois State Police continue to investigate the collision, which killed one other person and sent three to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. It happened just before 4 p.m. Friday.
ISP said a second person died after being airlifted to a hospital.
Troopers diverted southbound traffic Friday afternoon at the Shirley exit and reopened the highway at 12:39 a.m. Saturday, a press statement said.
No further information was immediately available.
Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter: @BrendanDenison | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mclean-county-coroner-identifies-woman-killed-in-i-55-crash-friday/article_ccda51c8-e443-11ec-9f34-8765b521d034.html | 2022-06-04T21:17:42 | 1 | https://pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mclean-county-coroner-identifies-woman-killed-in-i-55-crash-friday/article_ccda51c8-e443-11ec-9f34-8765b521d034.html |
Civic Nebraska will honor five Nebraskans who create a more modern and robust democracy June 9.
The Strengthening Democracy Awards will be at 5:30 p.m. at the DelRay 817. Nebraska State Poet Matt Mason and Zedeka Poindexter will perform at the celebration along with an Omaha slam poetry champion and poet-in-residence at the UNION for Contemporary Art. Drinks and heavy appetizers will be provided.
“A strong democracy does not build itself. It requires dedicated Americans putting community, learning, innovation, empowerment, and optimism together and making them work for the common good,” Civic Nebraska’s executive director Adam Morfeld said in a press release. “Our 2022 honorees have lifted up these values every day by word and deed, and we are proud to honor them.”
Civic Nebraska's 2022 Strengthening Democracy honorees:
Community Builder: Valeria Rodriguez, Gering, for increasing access to opportunities for all residents of the Nebraska Panhandle. In 2017, Valeria co-founded Empowering Families, a nonprofit that builds a stronger and more welcoming community through education, civic participation, and individual empowerment. She has helped organize DACA and naturalization clinics, registered residents to vote, worked to ensure a complete 2020 census count, and hosts a yearly Multicultural Youth Leadership Conference for 200 area students.
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Civic Catalyst: Erin Feichtinger, Omaha, for fighting for housing justice through education and advocacy. Erin leads calls to action and guides Nebraskans in working together to tackle the state’s housing affordability challenges. In the most recent session of the Legislature, Erin was instrumental in organizing, educating, and activating hundreds of Nebraskans to fight for rental assistance and other issues of fundamental housing fairness at the state and local levels.
Champion of Learning: Ebony McKiver, Lincoln, for promoting quality civic education across the state. The Nebraska Department of Education’s social studies specialist, Ebony leads the state’s work in grounding social studies education in facts and history. She guides the state’s efforts to implement the Nebraska Legislature’s revisions to civics graduation requirements and centers those who have been historically marginalized.
Young Civic Leader: Brooklyn Terrill, Lincoln, for conceiving, co-writing, and lobbying for meaningful legislation. Brooklyn, a recent graduate from Nebraska U., was a key force behind LB519, an immunity policy for certain drug and alcohol charges that would be potentially prohibitive to a survivor or witness of sexual assault reporting the crime. The Legislature passed LB519 and Gov. Ricketts signed it into law this year. Brooklyn also volunteers at a local sexual assault crisis line and serves on the Government Liaison Committee for Nebraska U.’s student government.
Guardian of Voting Rights: Jennifer Yi-We Hernandez, Omaha, for her innovation to ensure accessibility to voting for community members. Amid the onset of COVID-19, Jennifer recognized that some voters needed help getting their mail-in ballots turned in on time, so she created Ballot Buddies, a volunteer initiative to assist stuck-at-home voters with getting their signed, sealed ballots turned into the Douglas County Election Commission. Jennifer recruits and vets volunteers, promotes the importance of voting, and provides nonpartisan education about the election process and local deadlines.
Register to attend by clicking here or by visiting CivicNebraska.org/sda-2022. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/civic-nebraska-honors-5-with-strengthening-democracy-awards/article_2c0bcffe-1529-5380-9920-a066f5662ab0.html | 2022-06-04T21:18:02 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/civic-nebraska-honors-5-with-strengthening-democracy-awards/article_2c0bcffe-1529-5380-9920-a066f5662ab0.html |
A Valparaiso business executive was recently honored by the Chicago Paint & Coatings Association.
The 135-year-old trade association for the paint and coatings industry in Chicagoland conferred an Award of Excellence on Valparaiso resident Erik Olson, a sales executive with Producers Chemical Co., a chemical wholesaler headquartered in Sugar Grove in Chicago's western suburbs. He was recognized for “his dedicated service to the association and commitment to the success of CPCA and to the industry.”
Producers Chemical Co. distributes industrial chemicals like solvents, acids, alcohols, esters, aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, glycols, glycol ethers, ketones, phosphates and laboratory-grade chemicals nationwide.
It serves customers in a number of sectors such as printing, contract packagers, food producers, adhesives, lubricants, metal treatment, electronics, agriculture, municipal and pool and spa.
Olson is a past president of the Chicago Paint & Coatings Association who worked for nearly two decades as a sales manager for The Chidley & Peto Co., a regional specialty chemical distributor, before he joined Producers Chemical. He is a current board member of the Chicago Paint & Coatings Association who earned a bachelor's degree from Governors State University and a Master of Business Administration from Olivet Nazarene University.
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NWI Business Ins and Outs: Culver's, Cosmix Cereal + Ice Cream Mashup and Vita del Lago coming soon; It's My Party under new ownership
Coming soon
Culver's is going to serve up its famous butter burgers, cheese curds and custards in south Hammond soon.
The Terpstra family plans to open its sixth Culver's burger restaurant at 7905 Cabela’s Drive in Hammond on June 6. The fast food eatery, which emerged from Wisconsin and has been exploding in popularity, is located just off Indianapolis Boulevard just south of the Borman Expressway by the Cabela's and Walmart Supercenter.
Culver's founder Craig Culver will visit for an official grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 22.
"Our new restaurant will have 65 team members," franchise owner Fred Terpstra said. "It should draw from Hessville, south Hammond, Munster and people on the west side of Hammond. It should be a good restaurant."
The new Culver's also is expected to draw traffic from the busy interstate highway.
"We're going to have billboards on the interstate to attract traffic to get off the interstate," he said. "It should be a plus for south Hammond. There's also lots of traffic on Indianapolis Boulevard there — about 35,000 cars north and south a day. We've got a sign that's tall enough for people to see."
Joseph S. Pete
Opening June 6
Culver's is known for the slogan "Welcome to Delicious" and an Upper Midwestern menu that includes a lot of Wisconsin cheese and butter as well as a North American cod sandwich, a pork loin sandwich, a beef pot roast sandwich and a grilled Reuben melt.
The 4,200-square-foot restaurant will seat about 120 indoors and another 40 on the outdoor patio.
"That's required for all Culver's. They're popular in June, July and August," Terpstra said. "People come with their families, sit out there on the patio and enjoy their dinners."
The south Hammond location will have two drive-thrus to handle all the traffic.
"At first Culver's only really had a single drive-thru, but they changed their mind a little bit," he said. "The double drive-through capability will be helpful because it's situated in an area where 105,000 people live within five miles of that restaurant. We've been training staff for six months already so team members are ready when we open and it's nothing new."
Joseph S. Pete
Six Northwest Indiana locations
Culver's makes all its food fresh to order. When customers order, they're given a number and told to drive-up and wait for their food to be brought out to them to keep the line moving.
"Usually, from start to finish, when a guest comes in through the drive-thru it takes four or five minutes," Terpstra said. "Usually, it takes two minutes and 55 seconds to get their food."
Top sellers include butter burgers, cheeseburgers, cheese curds, onion rings and custards.
"About 22% of our business is just custard," Terpstra said. "We make it fresh eight or nine times a day. It tastes great. We get our dairy from Wisconsin, our burgers from Wisconsin and our buns from Wisconsin. The buns are delivered five times a week. They're always fresh and soft. You'll never get a bad bun from us. Our food is always fresh to order."
Joseph S. Pete
Butter burgers and cheese curds
The chain has been taking off in popularity, especially in the Midwest.
"It started in Wisconsin and now the state of Indiana has just about as many Culver's locations," Terpstra said. "It's a really good brand. Like the Terpstra name, it's associated with good service and honest. We believe in being honest and taking care of team members."
He opened his first Culver's franchise in 2006. Now he has six locations across the Calumet Region.
"The brand is really big. They now have 865 locations," he said. "I was just trying to do one to bring in a little bit of money. Never in my dreams did I think it would grow like this. Now I have family members from the next generation coming in to help run it. I don't have to work as much. It's a nice situation. The next generation is coming on and working hard."
He's looking to open another location in about a year.
"We're just really blessed," Terpstra said. "We're still busy. We're doing fine with good-volume restaurants because of God up above. It's a strong belief of our family that we owe it all to him."
The Hammond Culver's will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
Joseph S. Pete
Coming soon
Cosmix Cereal + Ice Cream Mashup will cater to the public's sweet tooth in downtown Griffith.
The new business will share the old Twincade space at 106 N. Broad St. with True BBQ, which also has locations in Munster and Crown Point.
It's an ice cream shop and cereal bar where one will be able to customize a mix or order a specialty mix.
For more information, find the business on Facebook.
Joseph S. Pete
New ownership
It's My Party, a long-running balloon store on U.S. 30 in Dyer, has new owners.
"Our family recently sold our beloved 13-year-old balloon shop in Dyer to two lovely couples," previous owner Amy Cullen said. "It’s My Party was the first balloon business in the Region. We opened in the fall of 2008. Many balloon shops have followed, but we are truly an original."
The business at 1514 Joliet St. offers balloon bouquets, balloon columns, balloon arches, balloon garlands and balloon art for all kinds of parties and special occasions.
Joseph S. Pete
'Staple in the community'
"Our mission has been to provide the best possible balloon experience and our business has grown leaps and bounds year after year," Cullen said. "Half of our customers on any given day are repeat clients and we have hundreds of people that we have served year after year for 13 years. It’s an amazing success story. It’s My Party serves many of the local businesses in the region like Hard Rock Casino, Albert's and Purdue University Northwest, and I believe we are a staple in the community."
Cullen is turning the business over to new owners Alicia Garrett and Michelle Bean Jabczynski.
Garrett was a customer for 12 years who went there last year to get a graduation gift for her daughter. Cullen asked her if she'd like to help out at the shop.
Joseph S. Pete
'You deliver one balloon cactus'
"You deliver one balloon cactus and then you become an owner at the store," she joked.
She worked with Jabczynski for 12 years at the Disney Store.
"My family knows and most of my friends know that celebrating life is my passion," Garrett said. "So I'm super-excited to be able to share that with everybody in the Region."
For more information, visit orderballoonsonline.com , call 219-322-7777 or find the business on Facebook.
Joseph S. Pete
Relocated
Revolution Valparaiso moved to a new location at 5410 N. Calumet Ave. in Valparaiso.
It's an alternative merchandise store that sells vinyl records, clothes, smoking accessories, local art, blown glass art, incense, used books, home decor and detox products. It caters to "eccentric tastes."
It's the kind of place where one can find turntables, tie-dye scrunchies, hemp backpacks, gemstones and exotic oils.
For more information, call 219-464-2814 or find the business on Facebook.
Joseph S. Pete
Coming soon
Che bello! One Italian restaurant leaves, another springs up to take its place.
The Taverna Tonelli space at 521 Franklin St. in downtown Michigan City won't stay vacant for long after the owners couldn't come to terms with the new building owners over a new lease.
A new Italian eatery, Vita del Lago, is moving in and planning to open soon not far from Michigan City's bustling Lake Michigan lakefront. The name translates in English to "Life of the Lake."
If you would like your business to be included in a future column, email joseph.pete@nwi.com .
Joseph S. Pete
WATCH NOW: Riding Shotgun with NWI Cops — Patrolling Lowell with Cpl. Aaron Crawford
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NWI Business Ins and Outs: Sonic, Royal Tea, Aldi, European Wax Center and Region Recovery opening
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Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/valpo-business-executive-honored-by-chicago-paint-coatings-association/article_800a8f77-65e2-5ba5-80fe-671a50fe978c.html | 2022-06-04T21:19:48 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/business/local/valpo-business-executive-honored-by-chicago-paint-coatings-association/article_800a8f77-65e2-5ba5-80fe-671a50fe978c.html |
CROWN POINT — A Rensselaer man was arrested last week in connection with an August hit-and-run at the Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill in East Chicago that left a father of two young kids dead.
Nick A. Peterson, 60, is accused of hitting and killing 40-year-old Ryan Briney while driving a truck registered to the company that employed them both Aug. 21 in the 3300 block of Dickey Road.
Briney, of Portage, was taken by ambulance to St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, where he was pronounced dead.
Ryan Briney was killed at the Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor steel mill.
Joseph S. Pete
East Chicago police returned to the mill Aug. 22, after they were notified that a white truck had been found on the property with a dent on its front bumper and hood and suspected blood on its front bumper, Lake Criminal Court records show.
A magistrate entered a not guilty plea on Peterson's behalf to one count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a level 4 felony.
If convicted of the charge, Peterson could face a sentence of two to 12 years.
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Peterson was released from jail May 27 after posting a bond of $35,000 surety or $3,500 cash, records showed.
According to charging documents, police arrived at the mill and found paramedics tending to Briney, who was working for Reftech International.
"There were 14 other employees, but none of them observed what happened except for a white truck fleeing the scene," court records state.
Police Sgt. Juda Parks interviewed all Reftech employees Aug. 23 and 24, and all of them denied driving a company vehicle the day of the hit-and-run except Peterson, records state.
On Aug. 27, a Reftech employee contacted Parks and said he was a passenger in the truck and Peterson was driving. The employee told police he didn't realize "anyone was struck while he was in the vehicle," court records state.
Peterson spoke to police Sept. 14 with his attorney, Steven Mullins, according to court documents.
Peterson said "he did not realize that he had struck anyone or anything," records state.
Briney was an ironworker with Local 395, which is based in Portage. He was working as a contractor at the East Chicago mill.
"Ryan was an eccentric, free spirit. He was a devoted father and loved his children," his family said in an obituary. "He was a loving member of Narcotics Anonymous. Ryan's unique personality showed through in everything he did and was always 'living the dream.'"
Briney had a 12-year-old child and took care of a 7-year-old child. He was active in helping addicts recover. A family member described him as "a mentor who people looked up to."
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Devonne Tyler
Booking Number(s): 2204424
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE - DEALING - SCHEDULE I, II, OR III
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Isaiah Watkins
Booking Number(s): 2204441
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - BY A FELON
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kirk Struven
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204437
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Ken Taylor
Booking Number(s): 2204445
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING - INTERFERING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT DEF. USES A VEHICLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Henry Patterson III
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204451
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING - ESCAPE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Thomas Philpot II
Booking Number(s): 2204427
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kenneth Smith
Booking Number(s): 2204456
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Kerri Olson
Residence: Cedar Lake, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204419
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Henry Meadows III
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204416
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Dontrell Lewis
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204443
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Andraya Mathis
Residence: Cedar Lake, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204420
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Luke McCormick
Booking Number(s): 2204436
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
LaMarc Hall
Booking Number(s): 2204426
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: NEGLECT OF DEPENDANT/CHILD VIOLATIONS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Allie Hassan
Residence: Orland Hills, IL
Booking Number(s): 2204434
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: CASINO GAMBLING VIOLATIONS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Sharonia Jelks
Booking Number(s): 2204440
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Tracey Getter
Booking Number(s): 2204418
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jordan Fletcher
Residence: North Judson, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204421
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Highest Offense Class: DEALING - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Offense Description: Felony
Michael Dillard
Booking Number(s): 2204422
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Cristian Anaya
Booking Number(s): 2204425
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Jasper Brewer
Booking Number(s): 2204438
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Karen Church
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204457
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Garrett Abromitis
Booking Number(s): 2204452
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - BODILY WASTE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Starr Tillis
Booking Number(s): 2204407
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Daniel Moose
Booking Number(s): 2204381
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT - FORCIBLY RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Alex Moreno
Booking Number(s): 2204393
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL ENTRY - BREAKING AND ENTERING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Miguel Payan
Booking Number(s): 2204408
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: OWI; DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanors
Christopher Stewart
Booking Number(s): 2204384
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Patrick Thule
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204380
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Arlin Mejia Santamaria
Residence: Bowling Green, KY
Booking Number(s): 2204396
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Melinda Massey
Residence: Valparaiso, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204379
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jose Maldonado Collado
Booking Number(s): 2204403
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jakeem Johnson
Residence: Blue Island, IL
Booking Number(s): 2204414
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Brian Lindley
Booking Number(s): 2204397
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Brian Gleeson
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204402
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Albert Hendon
Booking Number(s): 2204388
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Zolinda Diaz
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204401
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Arthur Ford III
Booking Number(s): 2204382
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: NEGLECT OF DEPENDANT/CHILD VIOLATIONS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Harry Bernstein
Booking Number(s): 2204410
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Ray Weems Jr.
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204347
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL ENTRY - BREAKING AND ENTERING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jerry Stokes Jr.
Booking Number(s): 2204349
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Limmie Lockhart III
Booking Number(s): 2204365
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT - VEHICLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jeffery Morgan Jr.
Booking Number(s): 2204377
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SIMPLE - $750 TO $50,000
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Christopher Schweitzer
Residence: Schererville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204356
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SHOPLIFTING - $750 TO $50,000
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Darrin Slaughter
Residence: Calumet City, IL
Booking Number(s): 2204352
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Enedelia Hernandez
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204369
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - TOUCH W/NO INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Robert Hudson Jr.
Booking Number(s): 2204348
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - BY A SERIOUS VIOLENT FELON
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Laiza Gonzalez
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204371
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - TOUCH W/NO INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Crystal Fantasia
Booking Number(s): 2204350
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jovanni Garza
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204366
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Devonne Tyler
Booking Number(s): 2204424
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE - DEALING - SCHEDULE I, II, OR III
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Isaiah Watkins
Booking Number(s): 2204441
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - BY A FELON
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kirk Struven
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204437
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Ken Taylor
Booking Number(s): 2204445
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING - INTERFERING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT DEF. USES A VEHICLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Henry Patterson III
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204451
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING - ESCAPE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Thomas Philpot II
Booking Number(s): 2204427
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Kenneth Smith
Booking Number(s): 2204456
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Kerri Olson
Residence: Cedar Lake, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204419
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Henry Meadows III
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204416
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Dontrell Lewis
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204443
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Andraya Mathis
Residence: Cedar Lake, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204420
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Luke McCormick
Booking Number(s): 2204436
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
LaMarc Hall
Booking Number(s): 2204426
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: NEGLECT OF DEPENDANT/CHILD VIOLATIONS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Allie Hassan
Residence: Orland Hills, IL
Booking Number(s): 2204434
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: CASINO GAMBLING VIOLATIONS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Sharonia Jelks
Booking Number(s): 2204440
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Tracey Getter
Booking Number(s): 2204418
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jordan Fletcher
Residence: North Judson, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204421
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Highest Offense Class: DEALING - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Offense Description: Felony
Michael Dillard
Booking Number(s): 2204422
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DEALING - COCAINE OR NARCOTIC DRUG
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Cristian Anaya
Booking Number(s): 2204425
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Jasper Brewer
Booking Number(s): 2204438
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Karen Church
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204457
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Garrett Abromitis
Booking Number(s): 2204452
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - BODILY WASTE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Starr Tillis
Booking Number(s): 2204407
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Daniel Moose
Booking Number(s): 2204381
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT - FORCIBLY RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Alex Moreno
Booking Number(s): 2204393
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL ENTRY - BREAKING AND ENTERING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Miguel Payan
Booking Number(s): 2204408
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: OWI; DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanors
Christopher Stewart
Booking Number(s): 2204384
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: INTIMIDATION
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Patrick Thule
Residence: Crown Point, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204380
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: DOMESTIC BATTERY - SIMPLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Arlin Mejia Santamaria
Residence: Bowling Green, KY
Booking Number(s): 2204396
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Melinda Massey
Residence: Valparaiso, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204379
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - METHAMPHETAMINE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jose Maldonado Collado
Booking Number(s): 2204403
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jakeem Johnson
Residence: Blue Island, IL
Booking Number(s): 2204414
Arrest Date: May 24, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Brian Lindley
Booking Number(s): 2204397
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Brian Gleeson
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204402
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Albert Hendon
Booking Number(s): 2204388
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Zolinda Diaz
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204401
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT OR PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIAL
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Arthur Ford III
Booking Number(s): 2204382
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: NEGLECT OF DEPENDANT/CHILD VIOLATIONS
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Harry Bernstein
Booking Number(s): 2204410
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Ray Weems Jr.
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204347
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: BURGLARY - PROPERTY - RESIDENTIAL ENTRY - BREAKING AND ENTERING
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jerry Stokes Jr.
Booking Number(s): 2204349
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Limmie Lockhart III
Booking Number(s): 2204365
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: RESISTING LAW ENFORCEMENT - VEHICLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jeffery Morgan Jr.
Booking Number(s): 2204377
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SIMPLE - $750 TO $50,000
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Christopher Schweitzer
Residence: Schererville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204356
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: THEFT - PROPERTY - SHOPLIFTING - $750 TO $50,000
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Darrin Slaughter
Residence: Calumet City, IL
Booking Number(s): 2204352
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Enedelia Hernandez
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204369
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - TOUCH W/NO INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Robert Hudson Jr.
Booking Number(s): 2204348
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION - FIREARM - BY A SERIOUS VIOLENT FELON
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Laiza Gonzalez
Residence: East Chicago, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204371
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Offense Description: BATTERY - SIMPLE - TOUCH W/NO INJURY
Highest Offense Class: Misdemeanor
Crystal Fantasia
Booking Number(s): 2204350
Arrest Date: May 22, 2022
Offense Description: POSSESSION HYPODERMIC SYRINGE OR NEEDLE
Highest Offense Class: Felony
Jovanni Garza
Residence: Merrillville, IN
Booking Number(s): 2204366
Arrest Date: May 23, 2022
Highest Offense Class: Felony
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Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/victims-co-worker-charged-in-fatal-hit-and-run-at-steel-mill-last-year/article_a6503444-245d-5355-972c-4e414966b5fc.html | 2022-06-04T21:19:54 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/victims-co-worker-charged-in-fatal-hit-and-run-at-steel-mill-last-year/article_a6503444-245d-5355-972c-4e414966b5fc.html |
WINFIELD — Winfield's largest construction project is a done deal as far as any future town approval is concerned.
The Town Council recently approved a $1.09 million performance bond request for the new Robert A. Taft Middle School.
The action allows school officials to go forward with the new middle school already under construction at 12408 Gibson St.
"It's fully approved. Now we (town officials) are done," Town Administrator Nick Bellar said.
He said the performance bond is an assurance that the Crown Point Community School Corp. will perform the road work on 121st and Gibson as well as any related infrastructure on the 98.25-acre site.
"Upon completion of construction, the school will be the largest building square footage-wise in Winfield," Bellar said.
Crews began moving dirt mid-August on the project. It is on schedule to open in fall 2023 for the 2023-24 school year, school officials confirmed.
Currently at the new Taft, work continues with steel, plumbing, insulation, electrical, mechanical and concrete.
Concrete is being completed for the gymnasium, school officials said.
Set to serve 1,400 students, 300 more than the current middle school, the new Taft will feature classrooms equipped with 70- to 80-inch interactive video monitors, a television studio, an enlarged library and media center, as well as a main and auxiliary gymnasium, according to a previous Times report.
The new middle school campus also includes space for cross country, practice fields for football, a football and track field, baseball and softball fields, tennis courts, a "flex" practice field, a pond and an outdoor challenge learning lab, a presentation for the project shows.
Plans to build the new Taft were announced in late 2020.
The new middle school is a part of expansion projects planned by the school district slated to cost $214.5 million, including expansions at Crown Point High School and MacArthur and Timothy Ball elementary schools, as well as other infrastructure, technology and outdoor upgrades to the district's schools.
In other business, the Town Council also approved the $140,000 purchase of a new tractor for mowing roadways from Castongia Tractor, a John Deere dealership based in Crown Point. The tractor will be used for mowing shoulders and ditches in the more rural parts of the town, Bellar said.
Gallery: WiseWay store will soon be Strack and Van Til
As far as relevance to the Region, Winfield Councilman Zach Beaver thinks a lot of people can relate to his experiences when they move to Winfield from other areas whether it's Chicago or elsewhere.
Current work includes stripping topsoil; removing trees and shrubs; installing erosion control; and developing access roads, parking areas and the building pad. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/winfield/winfield-signs-off-on-new-taft-school/article_01b06b15-1018-5e54-9397-aa6dc81ea34e.html | 2022-06-04T21:20:00 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/winfield/winfield-signs-off-on-new-taft-school/article_01b06b15-1018-5e54-9397-aa6dc81ea34e.html |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A new report released Friday by the California Water Board reveals that birds and dogs are still suspected to be the largest polluters of the American River through Sacramento.
The study conducted by the state's Water Board investigated levels of bacteria and fecal pollution in the lower six miles of the American River from Sutter's Landing Regional Park to the confluence of the Sacramento River.
During 13 events in 2021, samples of the American River were collected from 12 monitoring stations, six of which had shown levels of E. coli exceeding the water quality objectives for more than half of the time of the study.
Those six locations with high levels of E. coli included areas around Tiscornia Park, the Jibboom Street Bridge, Discovery Park, 5th Street, 10th Street and Camp Pollock.
According to the study, samples of the elevated levels of E. coli were submitted for microbial source tracking, a process meant to analyze the water sample to determine the source of fecal contamination.
Birds were determined to be responsible for almost 50% of cases where E. coli levels were found to be elevated, the study shows.
The second largest group contaminating the American River was said to be dogs, representing nearly 30% of all cases where E. coli levels were high.
According to the study, humans were neither a significant nor consistent source of fecal contamination in the American River in 2021.
The study's results reinforce previous findings, including another Water Board study released in December, which held that humans were not significant sources of contamination in the American River.
In the fall, researchers say they expect to release an analysis of more data as the second phase of the Lower American River Bacteria Study will be completed.
The second phase has included 30 sampling events along the American River over the course of two summers.
Watch More from ABC10: Sacramento City Council approves up to $5 million water sale | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/birds-dogs-american-river-contamination/103-222bf9a6-ca53-458f-b6ee-5119eacc2c4d | 2022-06-04T21:22:37 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/birds-dogs-american-river-contamination/103-222bf9a6-ca53-458f-b6ee-5119eacc2c4d |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Saturday morning structure fire blocks away from the state's capitol damaged a downtown Sacramento restaurant, officials with the Sacramento Fire Department say.
Before 9:30 a.m. Saturday, a fire was reported in the kitchen hood ventilation system on the first floor of a building in the 1000 block of 12th Street.
The fire spread from the ventilation system to the roof of the building causing evacuations, fire officials say.
No injuries were reported in the firefight and tenants of the building were allowed back inside soon after, according to a tweet by the Sacramento Fire Department.
The restaurant was closed after the fire for restoration. The morning fire also led to delays in Sacramento's light rail system. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/fire-damages-downtown-restaurant/103-4009f15c-6d44-4423-9f1a-b620186b4800 | 2022-06-04T21:22:43 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/sacramento/fire-damages-downtown-restaurant/103-4009f15c-6d44-4423-9f1a-b620186b4800 |
AB&T BSA Officer and Fraud Prevention Operations Specialist Daniela Norman graduated recently from the prestigious Georgia Bankers Association Compliance School.
ALBANY — AB&T BSA Officer and Fraud Prevention Operations Specialist Daniela Norman graduated recently from the prestigious Georgia Bankers Association Compliance School.
Already a valuable member of the AB&T team, completion of the compliance school program allows Norman to take a more active role in managing the bank’s compliance program to ensure continued adherence to all federal and state rules and regulations, while providing greater efficiency within the bank’s operations.
“We’re incredibly proud of Daniela for achieving this important career milestone,” AB&T CEO Perry Revell said. “She’s worked tirelessly the past two years mastering critical compliance skills that will have significant impact across our organization and allow us to continue to meet the ever-changing needs of our clients.
“Her attention to detail, her dedication to doing the right thing and her commitment to colleagues, clients and community are unmatched.”
The two-year GBA Compliance School provides students in-depth understanding and knowledge about the variety of rules, regulation and requirements banks have to meet as they strive to serve the needs of their clients.
The curriculum is designed so that graduates will have key management and technical skills to guide their banks’ compliance efforts.
In each year of the school, graduates attended a five-day resident session, during which time they learned through lectures, discussions and case studies. The first-year curriculum sets the foundation on which a student can build a successful compliance program at their bank and forge a strong career path as a compliance executive. In the second year, students cover more complex and advanced material geared toward management-level success.
Students learned from a faculty that included nationally known bank compliance consultants and leading Georgia bankers who are compliance officers.
“Banks are compliance-oriented businesses, and these professionals are committed to making sure their banks do the right thing every day,” Thomas Williams, director of the GBA Compliance School and senior compliance officer at United Bank in Griffin, said.
“Compliance is one of the fastest-growing and most complex professions within a bank.”
Nineteen compliance professionals graduated from the program this year. The on-campus session was May 1-6 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education and Hotel in Athens.
(Family Features) From the sunny beaches of Florida to the mountains of Montana, there are many ideal locations across the country for families and friends to visit together. When traveling with a group, booking a vacation home in these popular destinations allows families to stay under one … Click for more.
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accounts, the history behind an article. | https://www.albanyherald.com/local/ab-t-bsa-officer-completes-compliance-school/article_43a4f14c-e376-11ec-a1c1-bb9984ccae85.html | 2022-06-04T21:24:21 | 1 | https://www.albanyherald.com/local/ab-t-bsa-officer-completes-compliance-school/article_43a4f14c-e376-11ec-a1c1-bb9984ccae85.html |
A 50-year-old Schuylkill County woman died Saturday after crashing her motorcycle on Route 895.
State police at Schuylkill Haven said Leslie N. Gingrich of Orwigsburg was westbound shortly after 11 a.m. on Route 895, which is also known as Fair Road, near Jane Drive in South Manheim Township, when she lost control of her Harley-Davidson trying to swerve past a “large depression” along a “stoned area” of the road.
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Gingrich was taken to Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital in Orwigsburg, but she died from her injuries, police said.
Police said Gingrich was not wearing a helmet. An investigation is continuing. | https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-schuylkill-county-fatal-motorcyle-crash-20220604-tgkx75lodbdt7ij6ozod4mrwlm-story.html | 2022-06-04T21:26:44 | 0 | https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-schuylkill-county-fatal-motorcyle-crash-20220604-tgkx75lodbdt7ij6ozod4mrwlm-story.html |
UNICOI, Tenn. (WJHL) – A Unicoi man is dead following an accident involving heavy equipment Saturday morning.
According to Sheriff Michael Hensley, it happened at a home on Farnor Road in the Coffee Ridge community. He says two men were operating an excavator, also known as a Trackhoe, in an attempt to recover a trailer that went over an embankment.
Hensley told News Channel 11 that one man was down near the trailer getting ready to chain it when the operator of the excavator slipped and accidentally hit the switch that operates the bucket. He said the bucket hit the man near the trailer, killing him instantly.
The victim died on the scene, his identity has not yet been released to the public.
“There was no foul play, this was nothing more than an incredibly tragic accident,” said Sheriff Hensley.
No charges are being pressed in this case.The body has been taken to Johnson City for an autopsy. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/sheriff-man-killed-in-heavy-equipment-accident-in-unicoi-county/ | 2022-06-04T21:26:57 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/sheriff-man-killed-in-heavy-equipment-accident-in-unicoi-county/ |
ABINGDON, Va. — A southwest Virginia county recently rededicated two Confederate monuments after relocating them from a downtown courthouse lawn to make way for construction.
The dedication included an honor guard and a gun salute, according to TV station WCYB, with s ome attendees dressed in period attire.
Many communities across Virginia have been removing Confederate monuments since the General Assembly gave them the ability to do so in 2020. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-county-moves-rededicates-confederate-monuments/2022/06/04/28374a42-e44b-11ec-ae64-6b23e5155b62_story.html | 2022-06-04T21:44:53 | 1 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-county-moves-rededicates-confederate-monuments/2022/06/04/28374a42-e44b-11ec-ae64-6b23e5155b62_story.html |
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — A Maryland man has been arrested and weapons and ammunition were seized from his home after authorities say he fired nearly two dozen shots at law enforcement officers.
Officers who responded heard yelling from inside the home and tried to get the man to come to the door, but he refused, according to a news release from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. The man then fired rounds through a window at the deputies from close range. They were able to retreat unharmed.
A woman soon exited the home, and the 42-year-old suspect eventually surrendered. The sheriff’s office said rounds he fired entered an occupied neighboring home, but no one was hurt.
The suspect was in custody Saturday, the newspaper reported. He has been charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault, possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle and other related offenses, the news release said.
Court records say he is eligible for a public defender, but don’t list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Numerous firearms and ammunition were seized from his residence, including an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, according to the news release. Twenty-three spent rifle casings were found inside. | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/weapons-seized-from-maryland-man-after-officers-fired-on/2022/06/04/05d3269a-e448-11ec-ae64-6b23e5155b62_story.html | 2022-06-04T21:44:59 | 0 | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/weapons-seized-from-maryland-man-after-officers-fired-on/2022/06/04/05d3269a-e448-11ec-ae64-6b23e5155b62_story.html |
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A driver in Sandy was pulled over with a wooden plank through his windshield after police say they caught him going nearly three times the posted speed limit.
According to the a post to Facebook from the Sandy Police Department, officers stopped the man driving a red, plate-less Subaru Forester 71 mph in a 25-mph zone.
Photos show a destroyed windshield and what appears to be a plank sticking vertically through it. Police did not comment on how it got there.
SPD said Saturday that the man, who was left unnamed, was also driving with a suspended license, no insurance and did not stop for an emergency vehicle.
Police said he walked away, carless, and with “hefty citations.” | https://www.koin.com/local/clackamas-county/driver-pulled-over-at-nearly-3x-speed-limit-with-plank-through-windshield/ | 2022-06-04T21:52:12 | 0 | https://www.koin.com/local/clackamas-county/driver-pulled-over-at-nearly-3x-speed-limit-with-plank-through-windshield/ |
PORTLAND, Ore. — Twelve years ago on Saturday, 7-year-old Kyron Horman disappeared from Skyline Elementary School on the far northwest side of Portland. Despite major search efforts at the time and sporadic updates in the case since, his fate remains a mystery.
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office marked the occasion on Saturday with a statement, which also included an age-progressed image of Kyron as he would look today, at 19 years old. The image was produced by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
"Kyron's disappearance continues to have a profound impact on our community," the sheriff's office said. "We remain just as dedicated to this investigation as we did twelve years ago. In collaboration with our Major Crimes Team partners, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office and the FBI, we are pursuing all investigative leads and will continue to do so until Kyron is located. This case remains open and active."
RELATED: 'We gotta keep looking:' Kyron Horman's family hosts car show, raises awareness for 11+ year search
Horman attended a science fair at Skyline on June 4, 2010. At the time, he was seen wearing a black t-shirt with "CSI" emblazoned in green letters and a hand-print graphic. He was also wearing black cargo pants, white socks and black Sketchers sneakers with orange trim. He often wore glasses, and likely had them on when he disappeared.
He's described as having brown hair and blue eyes, with a distinctive V-shaped, strawberry-colored birthmark on his forehead.
Horman's mother, Desiree Young, has been keeping the case alive ever since his disappearance. She held a press conference on Saturday at Skyline Elementary to mark the anniversary.
For Young, there's always been one person who knows what happened on the day of her son's disappearance — Kyron's stepmother, Terri Horman, who brought Kyron to school the day he disappeared.
No charges have ever been filed in the case, though investigators also closely scrutinized Terri Horman. In 2012, a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge referred to Terri as a "prime suspect" in the case. Terri has since moved to California and remarried, and she has long denied any wrongdoing.
According to the sheriff's office, DNA from Kyron's family and his own toothbrush have been submitted and are actively searched against the national DNA database. Dental records and X-rays have also been uploaded to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons system for comparison to unidentified remains throughout the U.S.
A $50,000 reward is available for information leading to the resolution of Kyron’s disappearance. The sheriff's office encouraged people to share information about Kyron's disappearance by calling the MCSO TipLine at (503) 988-0560 or NCMEC TipLine at 1-800-THE-LOST. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/kyron-horman-missing-12-years-later-anniversary/283-20dcc98a-51f8-42b4-abaf-9f82b1d94896 | 2022-06-04T22:02:39 | 0 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/kyron-horman-missing-12-years-later-anniversary/283-20dcc98a-51f8-42b4-abaf-9f82b1d94896 |
Tucson Police have arrested a man in connection to a fatal shooting at a south side motel earlier this week.
Damien Esquire Hall, 32, was identified as the suspect in the death of Jesse Von Hernandez, 44, police said. Hall was later found by officers at a near-by motel in the 300 block of East Benson Highway and taken into custody.
Hall was charged on suspicion of second degree murder and was booked into the Pima County Jail where he is being held on a $1,002,000 bond, police said.
On May 31, officers found Hernandez with gunshot trauma outside of a motel, located at 755 E. Benson Highway. Despite life-saving efforts, Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives believe that Hernandez was involved in a dispute with an individual prior to being shot. | https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-arrested-in-connection-to-fatal-shooting-at-south-side-motel/article_96229974-e443-11ec-8615-7bae4529aad2.html | 2022-06-04T22:06:25 | 1 | https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-arrested-in-connection-to-fatal-shooting-at-south-side-motel/article_96229974-e443-11ec-8615-7bae4529aad2.html |
Eight injured, 1 dead after shooting in north Phoenix strip mall
Nine people were shot and at least one is dead after an altercation between multiple parties in north Phoenix escalated early Saturday morning, according to police.
The shooting took place at a strip mall at about 1 a.m. on 10th Avenue and Hatcher Road, both inside the building and in the nearby parking lot and roadway area.
One woman died after being transported to a local hospital. Another woman, five men and a teenage boy face life-threatening injuries. Police say two of the injured victims were in critical condition.
Victims were born between 1998 and 2004, according to police.
Officials announced before 9 a.m. on Saturday that Hatcher Road will be closed from 12th avenue to 7th avenue while detectives process the area and look for witnesses and evidence.
Updates to come. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2022/06/04/eight-injured-1-dead-after-shooting-north-peight-injured-1-dead-after-shooting-in-hoenix-strip-mall/7513826001/ | 2022-06-04T22:09:30 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2022/06/04/eight-injured-1-dead-after-shooting-north-peight-injured-1-dead-after-shooting-in-hoenix-strip-mall/7513826001/ |
Man with gunshot wounds found dead in car in Phoenix
Haleigh Kochanski
Arizona Republic
Phoenix Police Department said a man is dead after he was found in a car with gunshot wounds in the area of 39th and Grand avenues on Friday night.
Officers responded to a "shooting call" at 10:30 p.m. where they found a man who had "apparently been shot."
Phoenix Fire responded and pronounced the victim dead on the scene.
The victim has not yet been identified.
An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Phoenix Police Department or Silent Witness at 480(WITNESS) or 480(TESTIGO) for Spanish.
Reach breaking news reporter Haleigh Kochanski at hkochanski@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @HaleighKochans.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2022/06/04/man-found-dead-car-gunshot-wounds-phoenix/7514221001/ | 2022-06-04T22:09:36 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2022/06/04/man-found-dead-car-gunshot-wounds-phoenix/7514221001/ |
Teenage boy dead after being shot near roadway in Phoenix
A teenage boy is dead after he was found with gunshot wounds near a roadway in the area of 13th and Vogel avenues on Friday night.
Officers responded to the scene just before midnight where they found the teenage boy who had "apparently been shot" near the roadway.
The boy was transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
According to Phoenix Police Department, officers learned the victim went outside his home immediately prior to the shooting.
An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Phoenix Police Department or Silent Witness at 480(WITNESS) or 480(TESTIGO) for Spanish.
Reach breaking news reporter Haleigh Kochanski at hkochanski@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @HaleighKochans.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2022/06/04/teenage-boy-dead-after-being-shot-near-roadway-phoenix/7514337001/ | 2022-06-04T22:09:42 | 0 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2022/06/04/teenage-boy-dead-after-being-shot-near-roadway-phoenix/7514337001/ |
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Police are investigating a double shooting in east Birmingham Saturday afternoon.
According to Sgt. Rodarius Mauldin, officers were dispatched around 1:30 p.m. to the 1200 block of Oakwood Street on the call of two people shot. Mauldin tells CBS 42 that the shooting was reported as a drive-by.
Both victims were transported to a local hospitals for treatment. The extent of their injuries is unknown.
No other information is available at this time. | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/police-investigating-double-shooting-in-east-birmingham/ | 2022-06-04T22:21:31 | 0 | https://www.cbs42.com/news/local/police-investigating-double-shooting-in-east-birmingham/ |
NAMPA — A Monday Nampa School Board work session will include a discussion of the process for challenged books in the district.
The meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 6, at 6 p.m. and will take place in the board room of the Ted J. Comstock Administration Building, 619 South Canyon Street, Nampa. School board meetings are also streamed on the Nampa School District’s YouTube Channel.
At the board’s May 9 meeting, three of the board’s five members voted to remove 22 books from the district’s libraries “forever,” citing concerns about “pornography,” as previously reported. The books in question were in the process of being reviewed by committees of parents, teachers, and staff to determine their suitability, but it is unclear how the board’s decision would affect that.
The district released a statement later that week, saying, “the board and district will work together to create a fair, consistent and transparent procedure for handling challenged books.”
The discussion Monday, listed as “Process for Challenge Books,” is the second work session topic listed, following a discussion of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year and preceding two other items on discussion of curriculum and board priorities and goals.
The workshop is open to the public, said Kathleen Tuck, communications director for the district. Tuck said she did not know if there would be time for public comment, noting that “the agenda does not mention it.”
There is a portion of the workshop at the end that is in executive session; those sessions are not required to be open to the public per Idaho open meeting law.
Board Clerk Krissy LaMont did not immediately return a request for comment.
An accompanying document for Monday’s work session, titled, “Follow-up from Challenged Books Meeting Notes” includes notes such as “collaborate better with the community,” “staff was more informed on options and possible process for challenged books,” “board wasn’t informed on options and possible process,” and lists consistency, transparency, and accountability under “things needed to move forward.”
It also includes notes that read, “Meaning of pornography?” and “Is this the meaning that is going to be used consistently.”
Word of the board’s decision in May spread quickly through the community, with book retailer Rediscovered Bookshop vowing to set up special shelves for the books in question, buy more of the books, and distribute them to the community in a tweet and newsletter. The bookshop has a store in Boise and in Caldwell.
On Wednesday, June 8, the bookshop is planning a “Banned Books Giveaway” event at Flying M Coffee Garage in Nampa, 1314 2nd Street South, Nampa, from 6 to 8 p.m., according to the bookshop’s website. The event will give away over 1,250 copies of various books from the banned list that the public donated in one week following the board’s decision, according to the website. Anyone with a Nampa Schools ID card will be able to receive up to three copies of the books, and staff and teachers will be able to take home copies as well, as previously reported.
A banned book read-in will also take place on the school district’s administration building lawn (619 S. Canyon Street, Nampa) on Monday, June 13, at 6 p.m., organized by the Nampa Banned Books Fan Club.
The books removed based on the decision at the May meeting were “Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini; “Leah on the Offbeat,” by Becky Albertalli; “The Prince and the Dressmaker,” by Jen Wang; “Thirteen Reasons Why,” by Jay Asher; “The 57 Bus,” by Dashka Slater; “Drama,” by Raina Telgemeier; “Looking for Alaska,” by John Green; “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison; “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood; “l8r, g8r,” by Lauren Myracle; “Out of Darkness,” by Ashley Hope Perez; “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky; “Crank,” by Ellen Hopkins; “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian;” by Sherman Alexie; “City of Heavenly Fire,” by Cassandra Clare; “Clockwork Princess,” by Cassanrda Clare; “Eleanor and Park,” by Rainbow Rowell; “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” by Jonathan Safran Foer; “Sold,” by Patricia McCormick; “Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson; “33 Snowfish,” by Adam Rapp; and “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health,” by Robie H. Harris. | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/nampa-school-board-to-discuss-challenged-books-process-at-special-monday-work-session/article_70b9afe7-1032-5693-a0bd-6c18e3240e5b.html | 2022-06-04T22:22:46 | 0 | https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/nampa-school-board-to-discuss-challenged-books-process-at-special-monday-work-session/article_70b9afe7-1032-5693-a0bd-6c18e3240e5b.html |
SAN ANTONIO — A letter was sent to Governor Greg Abbott by Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff addressing gun violence prevention Saturday morning, according to the Office of the County Manager.
In the letter Wolff states a special session needs to be called as Texas is only 3 months away from the start of school fall semester. This comes after a mass shooting in Uvalde on May 24 where 21 people were killed including 19 children by an 18-year-old with an AR-style rifle.
Wolff lists the following 5 issues legislature needs to address in order to prevent gun violence:
- Raise the age from 18 to 21 to buy semi-automatic weapons.
- Pass a Red Flag law so that a judge can issue an order allowing for the temporary seizure of firearms belonging to an individual who is a credible danger to themselves or others.
- Require a background check on all gun sales.
- Allocate State funding for school security upgrades and trauma emergency planning.
The letter also states how the Bexar County Commissioners Court is taking actions to curb gun violence including the continuation of the policy of disallowing the gun show at the Freeman Coliseum.
Wolff ends the letter asking once again for a special session to take action to prevent future gun violence and how we cannot let these tragedies happen again. | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/judge-nelson-wolff-letter-to-abbott-gun-violence-prevention-uvalde-shooting/273-202bdf09-6a3d-4977-8bef-42c565aa2e55 | 2022-06-04T22:37:06 | 1 | https://www.kens5.com/article/news/local/judge-nelson-wolff-letter-to-abbott-gun-violence-prevention-uvalde-shooting/273-202bdf09-6a3d-4977-8bef-42c565aa2e55 |
Strawberry fields: Where to pick strawberries in and around Salem
Strawberry season is dawning in the Willamette Valley as a very wet spring lingers. Some farms already are open to pick your own.
Here's a list of which farms are open -- or planning to be soon -- in alphabetical order by location. Before you go, double-check the farm's website or Facebook page to make sure they're open and that strawberries are still available.
What to bring:
- Containers - While many farms have buckets to pick into and containers to buy, you'll save money if you remember to bring your own. Kitchen containers (like Tupperware) are great for berries because they're lightweight, easy to carry and, once you get home, they can go straight into the fridge. Shallow is better than deep to prevent bruising. Remember to have your container weighed before you start picking and bring more than you think you need because you'll often end up using them.
- Sunscreen & Hat - Picking berries often means standing in the full sun. Prepare accordingly and your picking experience will be much more comfortable.
- Water & Snacks - Few farmers would begrudge someone snacking on a few berries in the field, but it's rude to treat a U-Pick excursion as though it's a snack bar. Bring snacks, especially for kids, and plenty of water for everyone.
- Bug Spray - In case flies or mosquitoes are biting.
- Long Sleeves - Having sleeves on is helpful when you're picking strawberries as the leaves are covered in micro hairs that irritate some people's skin.
- Sturdy Shoes - Farms can be muddy places. Skip the sandals and opt for closed-toed shoes.
- Cooler & Ice - If you've got a bit of a drive home, having a cooler at the ready will help keep your berries from starting to turn to jam on the way back.
- Cash - Some farms take credit/debit cards, but many, especially smaller ones, do not. Bring cash and/or a checkbook.
What not to bring:
Pets - It's tempting to bring your pup along with you, but many farms have livestock who might be perturbed by canine visitors. Always call ahead to check with a specific farm on what their policy is on dogs.
Canby
South Barlow Berries
Where: 29190 South Barlow Road, Canby
Phone: (503) 266-3193
Strawberry u-pick season starts: June 4
Open: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays
Information:
- southbarlowberries.com
- South Barlow Berries (Facebook)
Corvallis
Davis Family Farm
Where: 4380 NE Highway 20, Corvallis
Phone: 541-752-0697
Strawberry u-pick season starts: Tentatively, June 9, but check their Facebook page
Open: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day
Information: Davis Family Farm (Facebook)
Fairfield Farm
Where: 29204 Lakeside Dr., Corvallis
Phone: 541-760-8163
Strawberry u-pick season starts: Tentatively, the weekend of June 11, but check their Facebook page first.
Information: Fairfield Farm (Facebook)
Dallas
Sliverfarm Fruit
Where: 6000 Perrydale Road, Dallas
Phone: 503-623-2713
Strawberry u-pick season starts: Tentatively, the first or second weekend in June
Open: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.
Information: Sliverfarm Fruit (Facebook)
Dayton
Jeff and Jen's U-Pick
Where: 18265 SE Neck Road, Dayton
Phone: 503-560-9275
Strawberry u-pick season started: June 1
Open: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day
Information:
Hubbard
Boones Ferry Berry Farms
Where: 19602 Boones Ferry Road NE, Hubbard
Phone: 503-678-5871
Strawberry u-pick season started: May 30
Open: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday (no u-pickers after 5:30 p.m.), 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Information:
- boonesberry.com
- Boones Ferry Berry Farms (Facebook
Jefferson
Greens Bridge Gardens
Where: 3730 Jefferson Scio Dr SE, Jefferson
Phone: 541-327-2995
Strawberry u-pick season starts: The farm is "soft opening" strawberry picking now for customers to pick "a bowl or so" of berries, but check their Facebook page for updates.
Open: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day
Information: Greens Bridge Gardens (Facebook)
Farmers:Proposed large chicken ranch ruffles feathers of neighbors around Scio
McMinnville
Bernards Farm
Where: 18755 Highway 18, McMinnville
Phone: 503-472-4933
Strawberry u-pick season starts: The first weekend in June
Open: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day
Information:
- bernardsfarm.com
- Bernards Farm (Facebook)
Salem
Fordyce Farm
Where: 7023 Sunnyview Rd NE, Salem
Phone: (503) 362-5105
Strawberry u-pick season starts: June 7
Open: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Information:
Minto Island Growers
Where: 3394 Brown Island Rd S, Salem
Phone: 503-931-6840
Strawberry u-pick season starts: To be determined, possibly the third or fourth weekend in June
Open: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday
Information:Minto Island Growers
Rick Johnson Farm
Where: 3310 Perkins Street NE, Salem
Phone: 503-393-0859
Strawberry u-pick season starts: To be determined, possibly at the end of the second week of June, so keep an eye on their Facebook page.
Open: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays
Information: Rick Johnson Farm (Facebook)
Stuart Olson Farms
Where: 6925 Joseph St SE, Salem
Phone: 503-362-5942
Strawberry u-pick season starts: Tentatively, June 9 or 10
Open: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. For u-pick, get there at least an hour before closing.
Information:
- olsonfarms.com
- Stuart Olson Farms (Facebook)
St. Paul
French Prairie Gardens
Where: 17673 French Prairie Road NE St. Paul
Phone: (503) 633-8445
Strawberry u-pick season starts: Strawberries available only during Berries, Brews, and BBQ’s festival the first three weekends in June, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Information:
- FPGardens.com
- French Prairie Gardens (Facebook)
Koch Family Farm
Where: 4745 Raybell Road NE, St. Paul
Phone: 503-502-8399 to check for U-pick strawberry availability
Strawberry u-pick season starts: June 2
Open: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day
Information:
- kochfamilyfarm.com
- Koch Family Farm (Facebook)
Claire Withycombe is a state government reporter for the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at 503-910-3821 or cwithycombe@statesmanjournal.com.
Bill Poehler and Emily Teel contributed reporting. Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal and Teel was the Statesman Journal's former Food and Drink Editor. | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/06/04/where-to-pick-strawberries-salem-oregon/65358838007/ | 2022-06-04T22:40:18 | 0 | https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2022/06/04/where-to-pick-strawberries-salem-oregon/65358838007/ |
YORK COUNTY, Pa. — Firefighters from multiple companies are at the scene of a fire in Dover Township on Saturday afternoon.
According to county dispatch, the call for a garage fire on the 3700 block of Bull Road came in around 4:21 p.m.
At the moment, no injuries have been reported.
Bull Road is closed while firefighters work to put the fire out.
More information to follow. | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/york-county/firefighters-garage-fire-york-county-bull-road/521-ba936f21-8c2f-40f5-8e6c-7718435b5978 | 2022-06-04T22:50:09 | 0 | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/local/york-county/firefighters-garage-fire-york-county-bull-road/521-ba936f21-8c2f-40f5-8e6c-7718435b5978 |
The pain at the pump in the Philadelphia region has hit a milestone with $5 per a gallon of regular gasoline in most of the city gas stations as the average price hits record highs once again just a week after Memorial Day weekend.
As of Saturday morning, the average price per gallon of regular in the Philadelphia region was $5.007, up from $4.94 on Friday and $4.450 a month ago, according to data released by AAA Mid-Atlantic.
The price hike comes right after Memorial Day weekend, in which AAA predicted 39.2 million people would travel 50 miles or more from home.
Gas prices have continued to shoot up in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and around the nation amid increasing demand and rising oil prices.
On Saturday, the average price per a gallon had hit a record in the five-county Philly region ($5.007), South Jersey (4.90), Delaware (4.783), Pennsylvania (4.913), New Jersey (4.916), and nationwide ($4.82), according to data released by AAA Mid-Atlantic.
CNBC reports that U.S. households are now spending the equivalent of $5,000 a year on gasoline, up from $2,800 a year ago, according to Yardeni Research.
The rise in energy prices has also led to a dramatic increase in energy production costs, which in turn has resulted in higher electricity bills for millions nationwide.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
In Pennsylvania, amid rising oil and natural gas prices, some of the major electricity suppliers announced increases between 6% and 45% in their energy rates which took effect in June. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/pain-at-the-pump-gas-prices-average-5-per-gallon-in-philly-for-first-time/3261355/ | 2022-06-04T22:50:10 | 1 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/pain-at-the-pump-gas-prices-average-5-per-gallon-in-philly-for-first-time/3261355/ |
EL PASO, Texas — Five teens were hospitalized Saturday, two in critical condition, after gunfire broke out at an overnight high school graduation party in West Texas, authorities said.
The teens, ranging in age from 16 to 18, were wounded about 1 a.m. Saturday at a home in Socorro, a town on the Mexican border near El Paso, said Socorro police Chief David Burton. As many as 100 people were there.
Partygoers said the shooting erupted after a fight broke out between two groups, Burton said.
Burton expressed confidence at a Saturday news conference that a suspect would be identified and arrested. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/5-teens-injured-shooting-high-school-graduation-party-west-texas/287-2b00c481-fa47-4658-bdbe-1eec0dd9514b | 2022-06-04T22:55:06 | 0 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/5-teens-injured-shooting-high-school-graduation-party-west-texas/287-2b00c481-fa47-4658-bdbe-1eec0dd9514b |
“I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”
— Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, Order of the Day, June 6, 1944
On this day, 78 years ago, 12,000 transport planes took off from southern England under cover of darkness to deliver seasoned Allied paratroopers across the Channel, behind enemy lines, in preparation for Operation Overlord — the Normandy invasion. Later, in the early hours of the following morning, 4,000 American, British and Canadian ships — the largest armada in history — landed an expeditionary force of some 175,000 soldiers onto the heavily-fortified beaches of German-occupied France.
Still, there were no guarantees. Even Eisenhower, after giving the green light for the attack only hours before, scribbled a note intended for release, accepting sole responsibility for the decision to launch the invasion and full blame if we failed.
At 8 p.m. on this day, 78 years ago, Lt. Col. Robert L. Wolverton, commanding officer of 3rd battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, called his men together in an orchard near the airstrip. Standing slightly above them along a hedgerow, he said: “Men, I am not a religious man and I don’t know your feelings in this matter, but I am going to ask you to pray with me for the success of the mission before us. And while we pray, let us get on our knees and not look down but up with faces raised to the sky so that we can see God and ask his blessing in what we are about to do.
“God almighty, in a few short hours we will be in battle with the enemy. We do not join battle afraid. We do not ask favors or indulgence but ask that, if You will, use us as Your instrument for the right and an aid in returning peace to the world.
“We do not know or seek what our fate will be. We ask only this, that if die we must, that we die as men would die, without complaining, without pleading and safe in the feeling that we have done our best for what we believed was right.”
“Oh Lord, protect our loved ones and be near us in the fire ahead and with us now as we pray to you.”
According to one account, “All were silent for two minutes as the men were left, each with his individual thoughts. Then the colonel ordered, ‘Move out.’”
Wolverton was never able to complete his mission, because he was killed a few hours later, sprayed by German machine gun fire while still in his parachute, descending into darkness above another orchard — this time over Saint-Côme-du-Mont, Normandy, France. But perhaps his personal mission wasn’t to kill after all, but to inspire. If such was the result, then it was “mission accomplished.”
On Wolverton’s previous orders, his battalion went on to carry out their assignment to destroy a vital communications link between the town of Carentan, near the Utah Beach landing site, and the occupying forces along the Cotentin peninsula. This action kept the Germans from making contact with reinforcements from the northwest, buying the Allies precious time to establish a beachhead and link up with paratroopers scattered behind enemy lines.
You may not have heard of Col. Wolverton, but his best friend and regimental commander in the 506th PIR may ring a bell. Col. Robert F. Sink was leader of 2nd Battalion’s Easy Company of the 101st Airborne, better known as the “Band of Brothers,” who, after helping liberate France, fought their way through some of the most famed battles in the European Theater, like Operation Market Garden and Bastogne. They were memorialized in a book by Stephen Ambrose and subsequent HBO miniseries produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.
Last week, on Memorial Day, we honored soldiers like Wolverton who gave their lives for our country and “brothers in arms” to defend an ideal we’ve held tightly throughout this as well as many other wars. Certainly, Gold Star Families and fellow veterans will never forget and forever hold fast to an unbreakable bond with fallen comrades, but what about the rest of us who haven’t experienced this sort of painful loss?
Maybe we thoughtlessly slipped up and said Happy Memorial Day or forgot to pause for remembrance between TV commercial breaks or grilling out last weekend. If so, it’s still not too late to do a little soul searching on the eve of D-Day 1944. The extraordinary courage previously mentioned didn’t start or end with The Greatest Generation. You’ll find it looming large in the shadows of both distant and recent history. Remember these heroes and thank a vet.
Lee Wolverton, VP of News for HD Media and grandson of Col. Wolverton, said it best in a recent column, “We mistake greatness for many things today. But the brotherhood of those men, my grandfather’s love for them and theirs for him, the kind that Christ described — ‘greater love hath no man that this, that he would lay down his life for his friends’ — this is the stuff of authentic greatness.
“America is starved for it now. It’s within all of us — and up to all of us — to change that. It’s about our love for one another and for our country, and finding comfort and security in the knowledge we are doing our best for what we believe is right.” | https://www.albanyherald.com/local/will-thault-a-soldiers-prayer/article_beed4cd2-e40c-11ec-89b9-576db25d819e.html | 2022-06-04T22:55:37 | 0 | https://www.albanyherald.com/local/will-thault-a-soldiers-prayer/article_beed4cd2-e40c-11ec-89b9-576db25d819e.html |
The Lincoln Commission on Human Rights no longer investigates allegations of harassment made by city employees, a move city officials said they made to reduce potential conflicts and clarify the process.
But some say the change eliminates an avenue for employees to come forward if they’re uncomfortable reporting complaints to their department heads or the city-county human resources department.
The change — finalized in February — essentially shifts investigation of internal harassment or discrimination complaints from the head of the Lincoln Commission on Human Rights and the investigators who work with the division to the city-county human resources department.
Chief Assistant City Attorney Chris Connolly said because the human rights division is part of the city law department, it created the potential for conflict. If the commission investigates a complaint and finds evidence of discrimination, he said, the city attorney's office could find itself in a position of having to defend the city based on a report coming from its own office.
The human resources director has always had the authority to do investigations, but an “equity, access and diversity” plan from 2009 spelled out a process that made the director of the human rights commission the city’s equal opportunity officer who investigated internal complaints.
Kelly Brandon, the attorney representing several police officers and firefighters making allegations of discrimination or harassment, said she doesn’t understand why having the city’s equal opportunity officer investigate complaints creates a conflict.
The previous policy encouraged employees to come forward if they didn’t feel comfortable filing a complaint with the department head or human resources. At least some of the officers or firefighters who have since filed lawsuits or complaints were directed to make their reports to human resources.
“This policy was designed to provide city employees with a thorough, timely and unbiased review of their complaints that concludes with a summary findings report,” Brandon said. “Our clients were denied that very important right that potentially could have prevented protracted litigation.”
The head of the commission answered directly to the mayor, Brandon said, which provided important autonomy.
Connolly said the new policy — which replaced the one from 2009 — will still be fair and neutral, and the reorganization is intended to avoid confusion about who is doing the investigations. The human resources director, as an agency head and equal opportunity officer, will also answer directly to the mayor, he said.
“No one will get denied the opportunity to make a complaint,” he said. “We’re trying to make it better.”
While the recent allegations by former and current police officers and firefighters illustrated the potential conflicts, they weren’t the reason for the change, Connolly said.
The Lincoln Commission on Human Rights — created in 1963, a year before the federal Civil Rights Act was passed — investigates allegations of discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodation across the city.
Mindy Rush-Chipman, who was director of the Lincoln Commission on Human Rights, left to become legal director of ACLU of Nebraska. City Attorney Yohance Christie is acting director until the city replaces Rush-Chipman.
The city’s human rights division — which oversees the commission — has two people trained to investigate complaints, and their recommendations on external complaints then go before a nine-member commission appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council.
The appointed commissioners decide whether there’s reason to believe discrimination occurred. The commission then works to settle cases between the parties, but if that doesn’t happen, a hearing officer is appointed to hear the case.
Handling private-sector complaints will remain the job of the head of the commission and the investigators, but internal complaints will now go to human resources, or, if there’s a conflict, the city will hire outside counsel to investigate.
The appointed human rights commissioners never heard internal complaints. Once the human rights commission investigators concluded an investigation, the findings and recommendations were presented to the human resources director or department head.
Barb McIntyre, the new head of the city-county personnel department, is now the equal opportunity officer for internal complaints, Connolly said.
The city also hired Jordan Feyerherm for a newly created human resources position: diversity and inclusion manager. He will focus on hiring, retention and creating a more inclusive workplace. The mayor included funding for that position in the current year’s budget.
McIntyre said she is trained to do investigations, but may hire someone who could do investigations but would also focus on working with city department leaders to create a healthy work environment, which would reduce the need for such investigations.
Jeff Kirkpatrick, former city attorney who made an unsuccessful bid for mayor, said having an investigator from the commission look into internal complaints avoided the general perception that human resources represents the employer.
When the commission’s well-trained investigators look into external complaints, they are neutral fact-finders, so that’s how they were perceived for internal complaints, he said.
Margaret Reist is a recovering education reporter now writing about local and county government and the people who live in the city where she was born and raised.
After nearly 40 years, The Bridge Behavioral Health will not renew its contracts with Lincoln police and other law enforcement agencies to house intoxicated people in a locked unit for up to 24 hours.
Protests filed or postmarked after June 30 cannot be accepted, according to Lancaster County Clerk Dan Nolte. Owners are also required to use the standardized protest form.
Miki Esposito — the first woman to lead the city's public works department and later oversee implementation of the Climate Action Plan — left to become assistant director of public works in LA County.
Ronald and Dee Baddorf didn't realize city ordinance prohibits residents from keeping pigs. They're asking for a waiver so they can keep Lucy, a mini-pig that changed their lives.
The Lincoln City Council Monday voted to allow a Lincoln couple — both veterans who suffer from PTSD — to keep their mini-pig for emotional support despite an ordinance that prohibits it.
During the contentious Republican primary, many of Jim Pillen's ads emphasized national, hot-button issues. His message is markedly different in his most recent ad. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-changes-process-for-investigating-discrimination-complaints-by-its-employees/article_99373be2-91bd-5c06-a496-ec70f94dacdc.html | 2022-06-04T23:02:18 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-changes-process-for-investigating-discrimination-complaints-by-its-employees/article_99373be2-91bd-5c06-a496-ec70f94dacdc.html |
GARY — For one of the three newest deacons in the Catholic Diocese of Gary, ministry is a family affair.
Deacon Robert Ross is the brother of the Rev. Benjamin Ross, pastor at St. Bridget Parish in Hobart, and nephew to the Rev. Michael Maginot, pastor at St. Stephen, Martyr in Merrillville, Ross’ home parish.
“I feel rewarded,” Deacon Ross said. “Seven years — it’s been a long time coming, but I’m excited.”
Ross, 25, joins Michael J. Booth, 39, and Gary Wolfe, 52, in this ministry of service and prayer following their diaconal ordination Saturday at Holy Angels Cathedral. Ross is a transitional deacon, leading to the priesthood, while Booth and Wolfe are permanent deacons.
“It’s been a long journey, and I had my challenges along the way,” Wolfe said, “but God helped me be a better husband, father, person.”
Booth cited a “very surreal feeling, but I’m blessed to be called to this ministry. I have this overwhelming sense of humility, being called to the diaconate.”
Preparation for the permanent diaconate is a six-year process in the Diocese of Gary.
The diaconate is the first order, or grade, in Catholic ordained ministry. Any man who is to be ordained a priest must first be ordained a transitional deacon. Deacons serve in the ministries of liturgy, word and charity.
In 1979 the Diocese of Gary instituted a formation program for deacon formation. The first class of permanent deacons in this diocese was ordained in 1981.
Liturgically, deacons may officiate at baptisms, weddings, wake services and funerals. When properly trained, they may also preach.
In addition, deacons may engage in such ministries as prison, youth, religious education and various charities.
A Highland native, Ross has one more year of theology at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee. His priestly ordination should take place in June 2023. This summer he will serve at the Holy Family tri-parish community in LaPorte.
Booth, who attended St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, is employed as a chaplain at SouthernCare Hospice Services in Merrillville. Wolfe, a graduate of Purdue University Northwest’s Hammond campus, is a maintenance team member at St. John the Evangelist Parish in St. John.
Booth is interested in the deacons’ active prison ministry at Westville Correctional Facility. His home parish is St. Bridget.
Wolfe’s home parish is St. Michael the Archangel in Schererville, where he is involved with a men’s faith-sharing group, training Eucharistic ministers and with the Knights of Columbus. As a deacon, Wolfe wants to serve the sick and dying.
The son of Thomas and Rose Ross, of Highland, Ross did not recall receiving any advice from his clergy relatives, but he respects their example.
“Just to know they’re human beings,” the new deacon said. “I saw you did not have to be a pious monk to be a priest.”
Ross called his journey to the priesthood a “roller coaster ride,” citing his work last summer assisting chaplains at St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart.
“You get to be with people in tough times,” he said, “but suffering often draws people closer to God.”
Maginot wished his nephew all the best, saying Ross will be a “very holy priest, seeing his spiritual growth. He worked well with kids.”
Ross’ brother noted that “when he was first discerning his vocation, I did not want to put any extra pressure on him, but now that he’s ordained, I’m very excited.”
For advice, the St. Bridget pastor echoed what Bishop Robert J. McClory said when he handed each candidate the Book of the Gospels: “Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach.”
Thomas Ross recalled the instance when his son first discerned the priesthood. “To teach children how to be altar servers, he lifted the chalice,” the father said, “and he suddenly thought, I can really do this.”
As parents of two clergymen, Rose Ross said, “We feel we’re fulfilling God’s will.”
“God has blessed us,” her husband added.
In his homily, McClory cited the deacons’ role in strengthening the Catholic Church and helping it to grow. Deacons not only serve their parish but in external ministries outside parish life, the bishop said.
“Service is key to being deacons,” McClory said, citing the early history of the diaconate when people were needed to serve the needs of the marginalized.
During the ordination rite, McClory laid his hands on each of the three, an ancient Christian sign of someone being set aside for a particular ministry. They were also invested with the stole and dalmatic as symbols of service to the needy.
In his daily podcast, the Rev. Michael Yadron, pastor at St. Thomas More in Munster, asked people to pray for the new deacons and all those discerning religious vocations.
“The Lord always chooses people to call Him faithfully,” Yadron said. “Some accept. Some refuse.”
Gallery: Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
Three ordained to diaconal ministry of prayer, service
The team would improve access to mental health and substance abuse treatment for residents in crisis and allow them to seek a response that doesn't involve police.
YWCA Executive Director Caren Jones first went before the Gary Common Council at the start of April. Jones explained that during the pandemic, many Y services and programs were shut down.
Gary Wolfe, Robert Ross and Michael Booth, candidates to the diaconate, kneel before Bishop Robert J. McClory during the diaconal ordination Mass on Saturday at Holy Angels Cathedral in Gary.
The Rev. Michael Maginot, right, vests his nephew, Robert Ross, with the stole and dalmatic during the diaconal ordination Mass on Saturday at Holy Angels Cathedral in Gary.
Newly ordained Deacons Robert Ross, left, and Michael Booth prepare the altar during the diaconal ordination Mass on Saturday at Holy Angels Cathedral in Gary.
Bishop Robert J. McClory stands with the newest deacons in the Catholic Diocese of Gary following their ordination Saturday at Holy Angels Cathedral in Gary. From left, they are Gary Wolfe, Robert Ross, and Michael Booth. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/gary/three-ordained-to-diaconal-ministry-of-prayer-service/article_d3c0af71-8e92-53dd-a786-25f34b83a5a6.html | 2022-06-04T23:12:55 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/gary/three-ordained-to-diaconal-ministry-of-prayer-service/article_d3c0af71-8e92-53dd-a786-25f34b83a5a6.html |
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK)—The West Virginia Fraternal of Police hosted its annual car and bike show on Saturday.
This is the first time post-COVID that this event has taken place.
The community came out in hopes of winning one of many awards and dash plaques that were up for grabs.
Even organizers say the funding from the show will go into helping maintain the property and other expenses, so they’re happy to be back.
“This is our 17th annual show, and the FOP and FOP associates both like this event because we can interact with the community,” said Chairman of the Car Show Committee, Rusty Flowers.
He says they look forward to hosting this event again next June and every year after. | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/fop-holds-17th-annual-car-and-bike-show/ | 2022-06-04T23:13:07 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/fop-holds-17th-annual-car-and-bike-show/ |
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK)—The city of Charleston saw its first post-COVID Pride festival on Saturday.
The festival is being held in Slack Plaza along Summers Ave., and there was a huge crowd of people in attendance.
There were multiple vendors, music and flags everywhere.
People also got to see Drag Race performances.
Those in attendance say they’re happy to see the festival back in action after a COVID-19 hiatus.
“It’s awesome, especially in West Virginia,” said attendee Erin Freeman. “We all get to come out, we all get to be different, we all get to just live our lives and be our authentic self, it’s awesome. Literally like COVID took everything away so I’m just happy to see everyone perform.” | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/pride-festival-returns-to-charleston/ | 2022-06-04T23:13:13 | 1 | https://www.wowktv.com/news/local/pride-festival-returns-to-charleston/ |
GRAY, Tenn. (WJHL) – As the nation continues to mourn victims of mass shootings in Texas, Buffalo and Oklahoma, mothers in the Tri-Cities are discussing gun violence and how they can work towards positive change.
“We’re heartbroken, devastated, me personally, being a mom of a school age child, I can’t even fathom how that feels,” Jessi Fuchs, Tri-Cities group lead of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said.
Members said they want lawmakers to step up and do something.
“I think we also need to regulate guns like we do anything else,” Kingsport resident Sharon Brown said. “We have to have licenses to drive cars, to get married.”
The group doesn’t just seek to end mass shootings, but also ones that hit a little closer to home, like domestic-related shootings and self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
Kisha Smith works with Johnson City’s “Safe House” a place that helps survivors of violence in the Tri-Cities.
“When police suspect that there is access to guns or any kinds of lethal means that’s like automatically when we will open up safe house and just immediately take someone because that is such a danger to someone’s life,” Smith said. “We’re glad to be there.”
Moms Demand Action created bags and donated toys for survivors to the group in honor of Gun Violence Awareness Day.
“A lot of people don’t realize that there is gun violence taking part in every size community, every single day,” Fuchs said. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/local-moms-demand-action-for-gun-sense-group-meets/ | 2022-06-04T23:20:00 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/local-moms-demand-action-for-gun-sense-group-meets/ |
Fifty-seven Reuther Central High School graduates were honored Saturday morning with a high-energy commencement ceremony.
The ceremony, held in the Downtown high school’s auditorium at 913 57th St., drew hundreds of parents, guardians, friends and family members who applauded and cheered the graduates during the roughly hour-and-a-half ceremony. Many held cardboard cutouts of student faces and waved them throughout the event. Others brought balloons or flowers.
Kiara Rios, who graduated with honors, offered the commencement message.
“One thousand, 300 and 69 days ago the Class of 2022 walked into Reuther High School,” Rios said. “Others came here at different times, like myself who came here my sophomore year. But it doesn’t matter when you walked in through those glass doors because you are all walking out at Reuther graduates.”
Rios said that years from now the graduates will be “grateful they got to experience the amazing faculty here” who “never gave up on us.”
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“They may be teachers, but we all consider them to be our best friends,” Rios added. “It doesn’t matter if you needed a second to cry, vent or tell them the latest drama. They were always there. Reuther will always have a special place in our hearts.”
Rios said Reuther was “not like the movies.”
“It was the complete opposite for me. We had our own experiences. Some made friends for life, some found their passions, some discovered themselves while others lost friends and dealt with hard times. But me, personally, I got to experience meeting my high school sweetheart. That’s the beauty of this whole chapter of our lives. It wasn’t like the movies. Instead, we made it our own. This isn’’t a time to reflect on a sad ending. Instead, it’s a time to acknowledge our new beginnings with excitement,” Rios said.
Rios said each graduate is about to experience massive changes.
“Change is inevitable, and I encourage you to be to the change. Be the change you wish to see in the world,” she said.
Principal Maria Kotz said she is proud of the Class of 2022.
“Recently, multiple staff members talked about how much they appreciated these last few weeks watching you all come together because you cheered one another on,”Kotz said. “You all wanted to finish strong together.”
‘Be in the present’
She also encouraged the graduates to live their lives to the fullest and strive to “be in the present.”
“Try hard to be present in the here and now whenever you can, because when you do it’s golden,” Kotz said. “When we’re present memories are made and friendships cemented.”
She encouraged the graduates to “embrace this moment” that they worked so hard for and that the Reuther staff could “not be prouder of you and all you accomplished.”
Tra Shawn Gordon served as the master of ceremonies and Dayanara Giles welcomed the attendees.
“It’s time to say goodbye and move forward,” Giles said. “We have made it and will soon begin to start a new chapter in our lives. Some of us will continue with our education while others may not have decided on a future plan, yet. No matter path lies your future, remember you are a Reuther grad. You are successful.” | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/watch-now-reuther-central-high-school-graduates-57-students-in-high-energy-ceremony/article_2c400698-e440-11ec-941d-8f8de63c8da1.html | 2022-06-04T23:32:19 | 0 | https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/watch-now-reuther-central-high-school-graduates-57-students-in-high-energy-ceremony/article_2c400698-e440-11ec-941d-8f8de63c8da1.html |
NAMPA, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
A Monday Nampa School Board work session will include a discussion of the process for challenged books in the district.
The meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 6, at 6 p.m. and will take place in the board room of the Ted J. Comstock Administration Building, 619 South Canyon Street, Nampa. School board meetings are also streamed on the Nampa School District’s YouTube Channel.
At the board’s May 9 meeting, three of the board’s five members voted to remove 22 books from the district’s libraries “forever,” citing concerns about “pornography,” as previously reported. The books in question were in the process of being reviewed by committees of parents, teachers, and staff to determine their suitability, but it is unclear how the board’s decision would affect that.
The district released a statement later that week, saying, “the board and district will work together to create a fair, consistent and transparent procedure for handling challenged books.”
The discussion Monday, listed as “Process for Challenge Books,” is the second work session topic listed, following a discussion of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year and preceding two other items on discussion of curriculum and board priorities and goals.
The workshop is open to the public, said Kathleen Tuck, communications director for the district. Tuck said she did not know if there would be time for public comment, noting that “the agenda does not mention it.”
There is a portion of the workshop at the end that is in executive session; those sessions are not required to be open to the public per Idaho open meeting law.
Board Clerk Krissy LaMont did not immediately return a request for comment.
An accompanying document for Monday’s work session, titled, “Follow-up from Challenged Books Meeting Notes” includes notes such as “collaborate better with the community,” “staff was more informed on options and possible process for challenged books,” “board wasn’t informed on options and possible process,” and lists consistency, transparency, and accountability under “things needed to move forward.”
It also includes notes that read, “Meaning of pornography?” and “Is this the meaning that is going to be used consistently.”
Word of the board’s decision in May spread quickly through the community, with book retailer Rediscovered Bookshop vowing to set up special shelves for the books in question, buy more of the books, and distribute them to the community in a tweet and newsletter. The bookshop has a store in Boise and in Caldwell.
On Wednesday, June 8, the bookshop is planning a “Banned Books Giveaway” event at Flying M Coffee Garage in Nampa, 1314 2nd Street South, Nampa, from 6 to 8 p.m., according to the bookshop’s website. The event will give away over 1,250 copies of various books from the banned list that the public donated in one week following the board’s decision, according to the website. Anyone with a Nampa Schools ID card will be able to receive up to three copies of the books, and staff and teachers will be able to take home copies as well, as previously reported.
A banned book read-in will also take place on the school district’s administration building lawn (619 S. Canyon Street, Nampa) on Monday, June 13, at 6 p.m., organized by the Nampa Banned Books Fan Club.
The books removed based on the decision at the May meeting were “Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini; “Leah on the Offbeat,” by Becky Albertalli; “The Prince and the Dressmaker,” by Jen Wang; “Thirteen Reasons Why,” by Jay Asher; “The 57 Bus,” by Dashka Slater; “Drama,” by Raina Telgemeier; “Looking for Alaska,” by John Green; “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison; “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood; “l8r, g8r,” by Lauren Myracle; “Out of Darkness,” by Ashley Hope Perez; “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky; “Crank,” by Ellen Hopkins; “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian;” by Sherman Alexie; “City of Heavenly Fire,” by Cassandra Clare; “Clockwork Princess,” by Cassanrda Clare; “Eleanor and Park,” by Rainbow Rowell; “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” by Jonathan Safran Foer; “Sold,” by Patricia McCormick; “Speak,” by Laurie Halse Anderson; “33 Snowfish,” by Adam Rapp; and “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health,” by Robie H. Harris.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-press/nampa-school-board-to-discuss-challenged-books-process-monday/277-c1ecdf48-ae6d-4b14-885d-48fc60dbc346 | 2022-06-04T23:33:04 | 0 | https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-press/nampa-school-board-to-discuss-challenged-books-process-monday/277-c1ecdf48-ae6d-4b14-885d-48fc60dbc346 |
Another shooting threat to a New York area school has resulted in the arrest of a teenage student who claims to have no plans to carry out mass violence.
Police were alerted to a possible threat involving a Queens high school two days after a gunman killed 21 people at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
911 calls alerted officers to a threatening message left on a school desk by an 18-year-old student that read in part, "I am going to shoot the school, like in Texas; be ready," according to a criminal complaint.
The message was discovered the morning of May 26 at Forest Hills High School.
"I was playing around and I just wrote it," the student told officials, according to details in the complaint.
“Our hearts had not even begun to heal from the horrific school shooting in Texas when, as alleged, the defendant made similar threats right here in Queens County. We are committed to keeping our students safe and will fully investigate all possible threats of harm," District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Charges of making a terroristic threat, criminal mischief, making graffiti, and aggravated harassment have been filed against the student.
News
The student's arrest shares similarities to one exactly a week later on Long Island, where officials said a student made references to the Texas shooting when making a threat to "shoot the school." This student was 13 years old. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nyc-student-arrested-for-threatening-to-shoot-up-high-school-like-in-texas/3720363/ | 2022-06-04T23:37:28 | 1 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nyc-student-arrested-for-threatening-to-shoot-up-high-school-like-in-texas/3720363/ |
'Victim of the system': Protest demands change after death of ex-Slater Hospital patient
CRANSTON — Friends and family of the late Charlene Liberty — including her mother, sister, brother and 22-year-old daughter — gathered outside the Rhode Island state hospital in grief and anger on Saturday morning.
In their words and in their hand-painted signs, they asked how a patient placed on one-on-one observation — the highest level of observation for any patient "until they day of her release" — was able to stockpile the pills she used to overdose while she was still in the hospital, get hold of — and swallow — the top of a razor and then get "released into society."
"Neglect," said the sign carried by her aunt, Jo Ann Liberty.
"R.I.P. Charlene Liberty," said the sign her daughter Breanna Liberty Policastro, of Pawtucket, carried.
More:She alleged abuse at RI prison. Now an ex-Slater patient's death sparks new investigation
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"We will continue your fight for JUSTICE against inhumane treatment from the system. Your death will not be in vain."
Charlene Liberty died on April 7, 2022, less than two months after she was discharged from the psychiatric wing of Eleanor Slater Hospital under circumstances that are being investigated by Disability Rights Rhode Island.
There has been no official ruling on the cause of Liberty's death.
But based on the known history so far, Disability Rights Rhode Island opened an investigation into "Ms. Liberty’s treatment, discharge, and death.”
More:Uncertain future of state-run hospital leaves residents in limbo
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Hospital officials stand by discharge plan
In an opinion piece that ran in Saturday's Journal, Elinore McCance-Katz, the chief medical officer of the hospital, and Barry Wall, the director of forensic services, disputed "recently reported public statements [that] have suggested that the hospital ... releases patients without plans for continued treatment or an established network to provide continued care."
"This could not be further from the truth," they wrote.
Opinion/McCance-Katz and Wall:Building a system of behavioral health care for Rhode Islanders
"The court must approve the discharge of all court-ordered patients and include discharge plans with ongoing recommended treatment," they wrote.
But the family and friends of the late Charlene Liberty — and Disability Rights Rhode Island, a watchdog group with federally authorized investigative powers — contend that the 38-year-old Liberty died a "victim of the system."
Days before her release, a psychiatrist signed a statement warning that Liberty's "unsupervised presence in the community would create a likelihood of ... substantial harm to herself or others."
The psychiatrist's Feb. 1 statement — independently obtained by The Journal — was based on her history of self-harm and "suicidal behaviors, including swallowing razor blades, hitting her head against walls, and overdosing on medications."
“Charlene Liberty was hospitalized at Eleanor Slater Hospital and was abruptly discharged on February 10, 2022," Morna Murray, director of Disability Rights Rhode Island, said in a statement to The Journal on May 11.
She was released to her mother's care in Cranston "without sufficient community supports," according to the watchdog group.
"We vow to not let her death be in vain as we investigate the failures of the systems that are intended to protect the most vulnerable among us, and instead too often lead to harm and even death," Murray wrote.
More:'Alarming video' leads to allegations of patient abuse at state hospital
A prisoner before she was a patient
Charlene Liberty had a troubled history.
She was a prisoner before she was a patient and the lead plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit Liberty v. Rhode Island Department of Corrections, according to Murray.
The lawsuit pending in U.S. District Court alleges that the state prison system "subject(s) hundreds of people to prolonged solitary confinement in tiny, frequently filthy cells where they are kept locked down for 22 to 24 hours a day for weeks, months, and even years at a time ... (with) little human contact or access to exercise, fresh air and sunlight."
Solitary confinement:A key part of the RI prison system or 'inhuman and cruel'?
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In Liberty's case, the lawsuit alleges: "The conditions in solitary confinement [drove] Ms. Liberty to engage in serious self-injurious behaviors, including multiple suicide attempts."
"Exacerbating her mental health problems, Defendants ... ordered that she be placed in leg shackles and belly chains, as well as a restraint chair, and that pepper-spray be used to address self-harm behaviors."
From the prison she was sent to the state hospital, which the family initially welcomed, according to her sister, Elisha Liberty.
Elisha Liberty said the family was largely unaware of the severity of the problems her sister faced until after she died, because they were all very careful about what they said, out of concern about being overheard.
But she said they were aware Charlene felt she was overmedicated, "and didn't feel right in her head. She couldn't think straight. And it made her feel, like fuzzy and careless."
'Those who cannot speak for themselves depend on us'
Elisha Liberty organized the protest that brought more than a dozen people to the sidewalk outside the Benton Center, on the Eleanor Slater Hospital's Cranston campus.
"Let's stop the abuse and neglect that happens at Eleanor Slater Hospital," she wrote in a Facebook post, announcing the event in advance.
"May Charlene’s death bring change to the future treatments by the doctors, nurses and staff that work there. Those who cannot speak for themselves depend on us."
Paul Rianna, an outspoken activist against the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers, was among those who turned out. He has mounted an independent campaign for governor. | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/06/04/charlene-liberty-ri-family-alleges-neglect-led-slater-hospital-death/7498797001/ | 2022-06-04T23:42:05 | 0 | https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2022/06/04/charlene-liberty-ri-family-alleges-neglect-led-slater-hospital-death/7498797001/ |
CHULA VISTA, Calif. — A former doctor in family practice at the Chula Vista Veterans Affairs Clinic is facing criminal charges of hiding a camera in a bathroom and secretly recording women using the restroom.
Dr. Vincent Tran, 52, no longer works at the V.A. clinic, but he still has a license to practice medicine, according to the California Medical Board.
Tran is charged in Chula Vista criminal court with 14 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming a person and invading their privacy with a concealed camera.
Tran has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on June 9.
Paul Starita, an attorney with Gomez Trial Attorneys, filed a federal lawsuit last month against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of two of the alleged victims, who worked at the Chula Vista clinic.
“Sometime during October of 2020, the recording took place. And, our clients weren't notified until till May of 2021 that they had been, in fact, recorded on that device that the doctor had placed in the restroom,” said Starita.
“Our clients are nurses. And, you know, they're concerned about the fact that he's still out there in the community and still caring for patients,” Starita said.
Starita continued, “The V.A. knew or should have known that they needed to protect their female employees. And by having a unisex restroom, at a minimum, they should have swept that restroom to make sure there were no recording devices in the restroom.”
Because of the ongoing criminal case against Dr. Tran, Starita said the V.A. has declined to turn over the hidden cam video to the alleged victims.
“They were devastated. They both describe it as being violated, you know, that it is tantamount to a sexual assault. It was something that really caused them great emotional distress,” said Starita.
CBS 8 reached out to Kristen Friedman, the criminal defense attorney representing Dr. Tran. She emailed us a statement saying, “Dr. Tran has an impeccable reputation and stellar twenty-year career as a medical professional. He is a devoted family man."
A spokesperson for the V.A. did not respond to a request for comment emailed Friday afternoon.
WATCH RELATED: Why the VA is stopping doctors from sending veterans to other hospitals (Nov. 2021). | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/chula-vista-doctor-accused-of-hiding-camera-in-bathroom/509-dc2b68a0-31a6-4aa0-b382-d71fb78cbabd | 2022-06-04T23:46:21 | 1 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/chula-vista-doctor-accused-of-hiding-camera-in-bathroom/509-dc2b68a0-31a6-4aa0-b382-d71fb78cbabd |
PORTLAND, Ore. — Twelve years ago on Saturday, 7-year-old Kyron Horman disappeared from Skyline Elementary School on the far northwest side of Portland. Despite major search efforts at the time and sporadic updates in the case since, his fate remains a mystery.
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office marked the occasion on Saturday with a statement, which also included an age-progressed image of Kyron as he would look today, at 19 years old. The image was produced by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
"Kyron's disappearance continues to have a profound impact on our community," the sheriff's office said. "We remain just as dedicated to this investigation as we did twelve years ago. In collaboration with our Major Crimes Team partners, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office and the FBI, we are pursuing all investigative leads and will continue to do so until Kyron is located. This case remains open and active."
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Horman attended a science fair at Skyline on June 4, 2010. At the time, he was seen wearing a black t-shirt with "CSI" emblazoned in green letters and a hand-print graphic. He was also wearing black cargo pants, white socks and black Sketchers sneakers with orange trim. He often wore glasses, and likely had them on when he disappeared.
He's described as having brown hair and blue eyes, with a distinctive V-shaped, strawberry-colored birthmark on his forehead.
Horman's mother, Desiree Young, has been keeping the case alive ever since his disappearance. She held a press conference on Saturday at Skyline Elementary to mark the anniversary.
For Young, there's always been one person who knows what happened on the day of her son's disappearance — Kyron's stepmother, Terri Horman, who brought Kyron to school the day he disappeared.
No charges have ever been filed in the case, though investigators also closely scrutinized Terri Horman. In 2012, a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge referred to Terri as a "prime suspect" in the case. Terri has since moved to California and remarried, and she has long denied any wrongdoing.
According to the sheriff's office, DNA from Kyron's family and his own toothbrush have been submitted and are actively searched against the national DNA database. Dental records and X-rays have also been uploaded to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons system for comparison to unidentified remains throughout the U.S.
A $50,000 reward is available for information leading to the resolution of Kyron’s disappearance. The sheriff's office encouraged people to share information about Kyron's disappearance by calling the MCSO TipLine at (503) 988-0560 or NCMEC TipLine at 1-800-THE-LOST. | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/kyron-horman-missing-12-years-later-anniversary/283-20dcc98a-51f8-42b4-abaf-9f82b1d94896 | 2022-06-04T23:46:28 | 0 | https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/kyron-horman-missing-12-years-later-anniversary/283-20dcc98a-51f8-42b4-abaf-9f82b1d94896 |
A Tucson congressman who chairs a key House committee told federal officials that Hudbay Minerals Inc. is illegally clearing and grading washes in the Santa Rita Mountains for a big new mine project and causing "irreparable harm."
"Unpermitted environmental degradation" is damaging washes legally protected by the federal Clean Water Act, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva wrote on May 24 to top officials in the Assistant Secretary of the Army's Office. They oversee the Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for enforcing that law.
Grijalva's letter calls for the Army Corps to consult with three tribes opposed to Hudbay's Copper World project, and to consider halting the company's work there in the meantime.
"I am writing to bring to your attention the alarming reports of unlawful actions in Southern Arizona by Hudbay Minerals, Inc.," said Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee.
Grijalva also said lands of cultural importance to the tribes have been damaged by Hudbay's work.
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In response, Hudbay told the Arizona Daily Star there's never been a formal determination by the federal government that the washes at Copper World are to be regulated under the Clean Water Act.
The company also said a federal judge's ruling, issued the day before Grijalva sent his letter, rejected his key assertions. U.S. District Judge James Soto in Tucson declined to halt Hudbay's grading in response to lawsuits filed by the three tribes and by several environmental groups.
Separate projects?
Hudbay originally did have a Clean Water Act permit, received in 2019, to build the proposed Rosemont Mine, just over the ridgeline from Copper World. But the company announced in May it was giving up the permit. That came after the Army Corps previously suspended the permit due to a 2019 court ruling by Soto that stopped the Rosemont work.
The Rosemont permit had also covered a utility corridor running from the Sahuarita area to the Santa Ritas that the Copper World project would also make use of.
The company pointed out that in Soto's May 23 ruling this year, the judge accepted Hudbay's action of relinquishing the Clean Water Act permit, also known as a 404 Permit.
Also at issue is whether the Rosemont and Copper World projects are connected.
Soto accepted the company's view — disputed by mine opponents — that the projects are separate. That meant the Copper World project doesn't need additional analyses under environmental and historic preservation laws that would be related to previous analyses made of the Rosemont Mine by the Army Corps, the judge ruled.
Said Hudbay in a written statement: "Chairman Grijalva clearly wrote this letter prior to Judge Soto’s decision on May 23rd. … Specifically, Judge Soto determined that the Rosemont and Copper World projects are not 'connected actions,' that the Corps is not required to consult with the tribes with respect to our current work on Copper World, and that it is 'illogical' to argue that we can’t surrender the 404 Permit."
"Hudbay has not impacted any Native American archeological features and will not do so without first reaching out to the relevant tribe or tribes. We also surveyed the area for threatened and endangered plants and animals and are avoiding or relocating them prior to ground disturbance," the company said.
Regulatory role debated
The Copper World project would eventually include five open pits on the Santa Ritas' west slope, which faces Sahuarita and Green Valley south of Tucson.
The long-stalled Rosemont Mine by the same company would be built on the mountain range's east slope, facing the Sonoita area.
Copper World will still need two state permits before full construction of open pits could begin.
But unlike at Rosemont, which needed sign-offs from three federal agencies because it would make use of federal land, Copper World will be built entirely on private land. So it will need no federal approvals unless it's determined the project needs a Clean Water Act permit for construction — an issue that's not even close to being resolved.
Grijalva sent his letter to Mike Connor, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, and two of Connor's deputies.
Responding to a question from the Star, Grijalva didn't say whether he was aware of Soto's ruling when he wrote the letter.
Instead, he said, "Neither the court decision nor Hudbay’s assurances change my contention that the company can’t simply vacate their permit and then do as they please.
"Several weeks ago, Hudbay initiated groundbreaking activities for its vastly expanded Rosemont mine proposal, even though the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suspended the company’s Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit pending further review and analysis," Grijalva said, arguing that Copper World is connected to Rosemont.
"Aerial photos document bulldozers filling the network of ephemeral streams on the site, impermissibly cutting off upstream waters of the United States protected by the Section 404 Permit," he wrote.
Waters of the U.S. are a technical term for any watercourses the federal government decides are worthy of regulation under the Clean Water Act if development is proposed.
"The company agreed that there are waters of the United States flowing across the Copper World area; it cannot cut off those jurisdictional waters by hastily grading and filling downstream reaches," Grijalva wrote.
In its response to Grijalva, Hudbay told the Star, "The Army Corps of Engineers has never determined that there are jurisdictional 'Waters of the U.S.' in the area and Hudbay has independently concluded through its own scientific analysis that there are none."
The longstanding effort by Rosemont Copper, Hudbay's Arizona subsidiary, to obtain a Clean Water Act permit for Rosemont was based on the company voluntarily consenting to the Corps' jurisdiction without an actual determination, Hudbay said.
Stu Gillespie, an attorney for the three tribes, said Hudbay has "studiously avoided" seeking an Army Corps determination of whether it had jurisdiction over Copper World washes. Now, it tries to use that as a basis for claiming that no such determination has been made, he said — "that's entirely circular."
The tribes' stake
Grijalva wrote that Hudbay's work is "also degrading a traditional cultural landscape of deep significance to the Tohono O’odham Nation, Pascua Yaqui Tribe and Hopi Tribe, among other indigenous communities."
Those tribes unsuccessfully asked Soto to halt the grading.
The Army Corps needs to consult with Native American tribes to insure that any decision it makes regarding the Clean Water Act permit for Rosemont avoids or minimizes impacts to tribal cultural resources, Grijalva said. While that review occurs, the Corps should "consider taking immediate action to cease Hudbay’s destruction of waters of the United States and traditional cultural properties."
The Santa Rita Mountains are a traditional cultural property under the National Historic Preservation Act, said Gillespie, the tribal attorney. Hudbay's clearing and bulldozing that land "is causing irreversible harm to a tribal cultural property," he said.
A federal paper that recommended designating the Santa Ritas as a traditional cultural property said the Tohono O'odham historically inhabited much of what is now Central and Southern Arizona.
For that tribe, the Santa Ritas contain "a landscape imbued with cultural significance, a location of sacred sites, ancestral villages and ancestral remains, and a source of plant, animal, and mineral resources critical in maintaining traditional O’odham culture," the nomination paper said.
The Santa Rita Mountains are also considered of traditional cultural importance by other Native American groups, the nomination paper said.
Army Corps 'gathering information'
For months, the Army Corps has been asked by tribes and environmental groups to stop Hudbay from doing work on the Copper World site without a Clean Water Act permit. But the agency has had no public response and had opposed the critics' now-rejected lawsuit, which was filed on grounds unrelated to the Clean Water Act.
The Star asked the Corps last week if it had concluded whether Hudbay's grading was violating the Clean Water Act. In an April federal court hearing, a Justice Department attorney said the agency was investigating that question but it would take time to complete such work.
Late Friday, the agency's Los Angeles District responded in a statement, "The Corps is considering and gathering information concerning reports of construction activities at the Copper World project area and coordinating with (the Environmental Protection Agency) to determine what, if any, action is necessary."
Asked also about Hudbay's surrendering its 2019 Clean Water Act permit, the Corps said it has no legal process to surrender permits but permit-holders can ask the Corps to consider revoking one. It noted it told Soto on May 4 that that's how it's treating Hudbay's action.
Soto's ruling, while calling the lawsuit against the grading "moot" because of Hudbay's surrender of the permit, didn't revoke the permit and the Corps "is continuing its revocation review process," the agency's L.A. office told the Star.
"Before revoking a permit, the Corps will consider whether it’s in the public interest and evaluate a number of factors," the agency said.
Court rulings in play
Grijalva's letter comes as two court rulings are at play regarding the Rosemont and Copper World projects.
On May 12, 11 days before Soto's Copper World ruling, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2019 ruling by Soto that has since blocked construction of the Rosemont Mine on the Santa Ritas' east slope. Both courts concluded the U.S. Forest Service exceeded its legal authority by approving that mine's use of federal land for dumping its waste rock and tailings.
Soto and the 9th Circuit agreed that a 150-year-old mining law doesn't allow the use of mining claims on federal land for disposal purposes unless valued minerals lie underneath the land on which the claims were filed. To date, no evidence has been provided that such minerals lie under the land on which Rosemont would put its wastes.
The mining company hasn't said whether it will appeal the 9th Circuit ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorneys for the tribes and environmental groups who unsuccessfully sought to block the Copper World grading also haven't said whether they'll appeal Soto's latest ruling or file a citizens lawsuit arguing Hudbay's discharges of fill material into Copper World-area washes violate the Clean Water Act.
On Thursday, an official in the Army's Civil Works Office told the Star its staff is preparing a response to Grijalva's letter.
"We're drafting a response as we speak," said Col. Steven Sattinger, an executive officer in the Assistant Secretary's Office. "It will go to the congressman, not the media."
"We received the letter on May 25, and 15 days is a typical response time. That is when I expect Mr. Connor will be presented with the staff work on the letter," Sattinger said. "How long he takes depends on his familiarity with the issue and the complexity of the response."
Contact Tony Davis at 520-349-0350 or tdavis@tucson.com. Follow Davis on Twitter@tonydavis987. | https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/grijalva-hudbay-illegally-grading-washes-in-mountains-near-tucson/article_beda8688-e1d7-11ec-b236-139378f60273.html | 2022-06-04T23:50:33 | 0 | https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/grijalva-hudbay-illegally-grading-washes-in-mountains-near-tucson/article_beda8688-e1d7-11ec-b236-139378f60273.html |
Their story started in rural Nayarit, where a girl named Benita scratched for leftover beans in harvested fields and scraped the thin layer of fruit off discarded banana peels.
It wound through so many places — among them, San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora; Salinas and El Monte, California; Yuma.
Now it's winding down, comfortably and without hunger, in suburban Tucson.
Dr. Julio Garcia, who saw patients for 12 1/2 years at Oro Valley Family Practice, and the grandmother who raised him, Benita Ibarra, 87, are together again, for the duration.
Their story is like so many others — a grandparent raising their grandchild, a middle-aged person caring for an older family member. But so unique to them.
"I learned from a young age — I don’t know when — that my situation was different," Garcia said. "And I learned that my grandmother's circumstances coming from abuse and coming from all that stuff, were different."
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Ibarra's own mother died in childbirth when Ibarra was 6, living on a rancho just south of the Sinaloa border. That made her upbringing rough.
"We were hungry," Ibarra said in Spanish when I interviewed her and her grandson last month. "My sister and I would walk the streets and if we saw banana peels, we'd clean them off. Half for me, half for her."
She left as a teen and ended up in San Luis Rio Colorado, eventually having five children of her own. Once she got a visa to spend 72 hours in the border zone of the United States, and she overstayed, going to Los Angeles and then north to Salinas where she worked in the fields.
Potatoes, chiles, grapes, oranges, strawberries. With that, the family eventually got established in the United States and over time gained citizenship, but it remained a tough life, with sometimes rocky relationships with her children.
'From that time forward, he was mine'
Garcia was born in an unhappy circumstance, to Ibarra's youngest daughter when she was a teen.
"He was about 2 months old when she left," Ibarra said. "I bought a cradle, I gave him his bottle and put on his Pampers. I bought him a velvet monkey."
"From that time forward, he was mine."
Life in El Monte, a suburb of Los Angeles, was not easy for Garcia as he grew into boyhood.
"The reason we had to leave is I was getting jumped by gang kids," he said. "I was hiding it from her, but one time I showed up and I couldn’t hide it from her."
So the two of them moved to Yuma, where family members lived, when he was 11. They were able to buy a rudimentary 700-square-foot house in part thanks to a divorce settlement from a man she was married to in El Monte. At first it had no working plumbing or cooling — in Yuma.
They went to work, as a team, to make ends meet. Ibarra couldn't do physical labor anymore because the stooping in the fields had ruined her back, but they would go to San Luis Rio Colorado to buy candy and gum and Mexican sodas, then sell them door to door in their Yuma neighborhood.
They also made tamales — green corn, pork, beef, chicken — and sold them for just five dollars a dozen. Garcia would work the cast-iron grinder, one of many jobs he worked from the age of 12.
"We paid a lot of bills this way," Garcia said. "To this day I don't eat corn tamales."
"We battled hard, the two of us," Ibarra said. "We battled hard."
Garcia found his classes at Yuma High School easy, but his own plans were just to find a job after graduation. Instead, people suggested he apply to college. He was accepted at the University of Arizona.
'People could sense that my grandma raised me'
The experience was up and down, Garcia said. He started well, then descended.
"I don’t remember what the number was, but my grade point average was in the 2 point something (range)," he said. "I got a letter from the school saying I was in trouble."
Then a friend recommended nutrition and anatomy classes. A switch flipped for him. It took seven years, but he got bachelor's degrees in nutritional science and psychology, then moved on to medical school, accepted on his second try.
Medical school was no easy ride either. Garcia had injured his back while sledding on Mount Lemmon in earlier years, and while in medical school he needed two spinal surgeries for it, causing him to miss a year, he said. Eventually, though, he earned his degree and went into family practice.
At the Oro Valley clinic, he happened to inherit a slate of older patients, and he found that matched the skills he had developed growing up with his grandma.
"Over the years, people could sense that my grandma raised me, and so I ended up being in geriatrics for the most part," he said.
David and Kathy Peters of Catalina were referred to him by their neighbor and were patients of Garcia for almost his whole time there.
"He was probably the best (doctor) we ever had," said David Peters, 91. "He was always on top of everything."
'He's always been good with me'
Garcia was also keeping tabs on the woman who raised him. Ibarra, in Yuma, had of course felt lonely since he left for Tucson.
"He never abandoned me though," she said. "He was always going there" to Yuma.
That relationship became tricky as Ibarra aged, especially during the pandemic. Last year, she fell in February and broke her hip. Garcia thought she was getting better, but late last year he realized she was fading.
"At one point I called her in December and she sounded bad," he said. "I was like 'What’s going on?' She said she fell again. I was talking to my wife and she said, 'Just go get her.' "
Garcia and his wife, Lisa, had bought a home in Oro Valley in May, anticipating moving Ibarra out, but had been renting it as an AirBnb. Now they put it to use.
At the same time, Garcia said, his own back injury was making it impossible for him to fulfill his obligations at the practice by seeing patients for a full day. So he quit the practice to dedicate his time to the grandmother who raised him, while working a much-reduced schedule elsewhere.
And here's the magical thing: Ibarra got better. Since she moved to Oro Valley, her blood pressure has gone down. She hasn't fallen once. She likes going out in the backyard and enjoying the breezes off nearby Pusch Ridge.
"There I felt like I was dying because I felt terrible," Ibarra said of her old Yuma home. "I fell down five times."
"I'm so content, and they never leave me alone," she said. "He's always been good with me."
Of course, the same is true of her. They've always been a team.
Contact columnist Tim Steller at tsteller@tucson.com or 520-807-7789. On Twitter: @senyorreporter | https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/tim-stellers-column-tucson-docs-unlikely-path-to-success-comes-full-circle/article_c6092fa4-dd5e-11ec-9bf4-1b8b428368e3.html | 2022-06-04T23:50:39 | 1 | https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/tim-stellers-column-tucson-docs-unlikely-path-to-success-comes-full-circle/article_c6092fa4-dd5e-11ec-9bf4-1b8b428368e3.html |
AUSTIN, Texas — The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM) annual Corporate Battle of the Bands drew in record-breaking numbers during the 2022 event on Thursday.
The 13th annual event featured bands made up of Austin-based businesses competing for the title of best corporate band. More than 1,200 people attended the event at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. Over $227,000 was raised through the event, according to HAAM.
A handful of local celebrities, including KVUE's Quita Culpepper, and music industry members judged the bands as they aimed to impress the panel. The C Notes, made up of employees at PNC Bank, ended up winning the title Thursday night.
It was the first time since 2019 that the event took place.
“We are so excited that, once again for the first time since the onset of COVID-19, the Austin community & local businesses have come together to support our mission and the beloved musicians that make this city the Live Music Capital of the World,” Paul Scott, CEO of HAAM, said.
“Austin is filled with many local talents, which was so evident during the evening’s performances. We are also blown away by the community's generosity which enabled us to surpass our ambitious goal of $225,000! It is a tradition we look forward to continuing for many years,” he continued.
Funds raised go toward providing healthcare services for musicians HAAM serves. Learn more about the organization online.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/haam-battle-bands-raises-227000-austin-musicians/269-3743dff9-4a10-4e6b-956e-6cefcc4ebd54 | 2022-06-04T23:59:48 | 0 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/haam-battle-bands-raises-227000-austin-musicians/269-3743dff9-4a10-4e6b-956e-6cefcc4ebd54 |
ROUND ROCK, Texas — Round Rock held its first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride Festival on Saturday.
The inaugural Pride Festival was held at Centennial Plaza in the afternoon. Organizers said they weren't sure how the first pride event would turn out but in the end, hundreds of people filled the plaza.
The event featured opening remarks by KVUE Senior Reporter Tony Plohetski and an introduction of the Austin Gay Men's Corus, remarks from Mayor Craig Morgan and Round Rock Pride Founder Richard Parson, "Drag Queen Story Time" and a performance with Mini Kween Kee Kee and more.
Mayor Morgan issued a proclamation honoring the city's LGBTQ+ population and organizers said they wanted to hold the event to bring the community together.
"I'm very humbled that I am the one that has to do this. But I am so proud that I have a community that came together because not only the LGBTQ community came together, the entire Round Rock community," Round Rock Pride founder Richard Parson said.
Another founder of the event said they found the community's support overwhelming.
"The support was overwhelming, I really only thought we were going to have like five vendors here and we ended out with 42 and we had to turn a lot away because we don't have space. So, next year is going to be bigger and better," Bill Hillard said.
Round Rock was just one of several Central Texas cities hosting LGBTQ+ events for the first time ever this year. Leander, Pflugerville and Lockhart are also among the list.
Photos: Round Rock hosts first Pride Festival
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/round-rock-holds-first-pride-festival-2022/269-ebd71796-a401-4f5f-84b1-f39f1e9675d9 | 2022-06-04T23:59:54 | 1 | https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/round-rock-holds-first-pride-festival-2022/269-ebd71796-a401-4f5f-84b1-f39f1e9675d9 |
SEATTLE — The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said it is hopeful this fire season will be less intense than last year thanks to high rainfall and melting snowpack, though it is still preparing extensively and asks everyone to do what they can to prevent causing fires in the first place.
Other researchers have shared similar expectations.
As a longtime Seattleite, Crystal Raymond said she remembers wet, cold springs in years past, and that it's been interesting and different than the past couple of years.
"It's great to have this rain with the drought we have throughout the northwest but also recognizing the fact that things could change really quickly," said Raymond, a climate adaptation specialist at the University of Washington's Climate Impacts Group. "So we don't want to let our guard down heading into August and September."
DNR and Raymond said a strong La Niña and favorable conditions this spring helped moisten vegetation and ease drought in some areas, though there could be some locations that are still more prone than others.
It's also important to note the impact increased precipitation has on fuel for fire. Raymond said that in eastern Washington, for example, spring rains can boost brush and grass, but when that dries out during the hot summer, it can result in more fire potential than in forest-heavy environments.
DNR held a briefing Thursday on preparations underway for fire season and what is expected based on current weather patterns. A meteorologist shared that a strong La Niña has played a role in precipitation and that extra rainfall and heavy snowpack have almost completely abated drought conditions west of the Cascades. Still, the summer could bring hot, dry conditions, and fire season is expected to peak later in the summer.
DNR said it has 120 engines planned to service fires this year, the same as in 2021. It is using funding passed by lawmakers to create a fleet of dozers to help with building fire lines, though there have been some supply chain problems with transport.
The department is actively hiring operators. The funding also meant money for three more 20-person crews, which DNR plans to parse into 10-person teams to be spread across different regions. Additional hiring and training are underway.
Most fires are human-caused, with debris burning the No. 1 reason, according to DNR. If people need to burn, they must follow burn bans, be conscious of weather conditions and should keep piles small, DNR said.
The second-leading cause of human-caused fires is recreational or ceremonial burning.
While DNR prepares to fight fires, it asks everyone to limit activity that could cause them in the first place. | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/wildfire/2022-wildifire-season-washington-outlook/281-c104b571-276e-49a4-b814-a80d0a0bd5d8 | 2022-06-05T00:04:19 | 1 | https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/wildfire/2022-wildifire-season-washington-outlook/281-c104b571-276e-49a4-b814-a80d0a0bd5d8 |
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — A woman testified Friday that she was 14 when Bill Cosby took her into a trailer on a movie set in 1975, grabbed her so she couldn’t move her arms, and kissed her.
“I was struggling to get away,” she said. “It was very shocking.”
The woman, now 61, told her story in a public venue for the first time during a Los Angeles County civil trial over the lawsuit of Judy Huth, who alleges Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion when she was 16 at around the same time, in the spring of 1975.
The woman testified that she, her mother, and other family and friends were on the Los Angeles set of the film “Let’s Do It Again,” starring Cosby and Sidney Poitier, where Cosby had invited them to act as extras after meeting them at a tennis tournament a few months earlier.
She said Cosby invited her alone into his trailer to help him straighten the bow tie he was wearing for a scene.
“He immediately grabbed me,” she said. “He started kissing me, all over my face, tongue down my throat.”
Asked by Huth’s attorney Nathan Goldberg how tightly Cosby was holding her, she replied, “enough that I couldn’t get away.”
After about 30 seconds she pulled free and left.
Pictures were shown in court of Cosby and the 14-year-old together at the tennis tournament, with him smiling and his arms around her. Other photos were shown of Cosby and the girl with her family on the set of the film. Huth would later meet Cosby on a different set of the same film.
Old photos from the mid-1970s have loomed large at the trial, one of the last remaining legal claims against Cosby after his Pennsylvania criminal conviction was thrown out and other lawsuits were settled by his insurer. Two photos of Cosby and Huth at the Playboy Mansion were shown during earlier testimony. Cosby has denied sexually assaulting Huth, and his attorney says the case is about her attempt to cash in on the pictures.
The woman who testified Friday said after leaving the trailer, she did not tell anyone she was with what happened with Cosby, who is not attending the trial.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said. “I didn’t want to ruin everything for everyone.”
They went about the rest of their day, appearing in a boxing scene for the film shot at the Grand Olympic Auditorium.
In her cross-examination of the woman, Cosby attorney Jennifer Bonjean showed a still from the film of the girl and her brother cheering in the front row next to the boxing ring.
Bonjean asked whether she had been distraught at the time.
“I probably was,” the woman said.
“Probably?” Bonjean asked.
“I was distraught when I was in there,” she said.
The woman said she did not speak of the incident until telling her husband years later, and telling her teenage daughter years after that.
Bonjean asked whether multiple media reports with allegations in 2015 about Cosby caused her to come forward and tell her story to Gloria Allred, who along with Goldberg represents both her and Huth.
The woman said one brief Allred clip prompted her to do this after she heard Cosby’s denial, but said she had no intention of filing a lawsuit when she sought out Allred.
The woman is not a party to the lawsuit, but is being allowed to testify along with one other woman about her experiences for Huth’s case.
Bonjean gave serious challenges to the other witness, Margie Shapiro, who has told her story several times before to media outlets and in a news conference with Allred.
Shapiro testified that when she was 19 in November of 1975, she was at the Playboy Mansion with Cosby when he gave her a pill, which she took voluntarily. She said she later woke from unconsciousness to find him raping her.
Bonjean produced a document that showed Shapiro was supposed to be in court as a defendant on the day she said she met Cosby when she was working at a donut shop near the set of another film he was making.
“I might have gone,” Shapiro said. “If I needed to I would have taken a short break.”
Bonjean also grilled Shapiro over a matchbook that was produced in court that Shapiro said she got at Cosby’s house when they stopped there briefly before going to the mansion.
Written on the matchbook was “11/18/1975, my evening at Bill Cosby’s house.”
“After this drugging and raping you kept a memento?” Bonjean asked.
“It was important, whether it was good or bad,” Shapiro answered.
Bonjean also challenged Shapiro over her testimony that she knew the pill Cosby gave her was not a Quaalude, a depressant popular in the 1970s, because of the coding etched on it.
She pointed out that in a 2016 interview with police she had said the pill had looked like a Quaalude and that Cosby told her it was one.
“Either I got it wrong or the detective got it wrong,” Shapiro said.
One of the jurors, many of whom were not born in the 1970s, raised a hand and asked the judge for clarification on what a Quaalude was. Shapiro compared it to Valium.
Shapiro said she angrily went looking for Cosby’s house days later but couldn’t find it.
Bonjean asked whether it was true that she was upset because Cosby had declined to take her to the Playboy Mansion, and that she and Cosby had consensual sex at his house and she didn’t like the way he treated her afterward.
“I was upset because he raped me,” she said.
The Associated Press does not normally name people who say they have been sexually abused, unless they come forward publicly, as Huth and Shapiro have several times.
___
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton | https://www.cbs42.com/local/woman-testifies-cosby-forcibly-kissed-her-when-she-was-14/ | 2022-06-05T00:18:16 | 1 | https://www.cbs42.com/local/woman-testifies-cosby-forcibly-kissed-her-when-she-was-14/ |
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Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood. | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/gas-prices-average-5-per-gallon-in-philly-for-first-time/3261378/ | 2022-06-05T00:21:39 | 0 | https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/gas-prices-average-5-per-gallon-in-philly-for-first-time/3261378/ |
QUESTION: I have an employee who is an issue. She is often belligerent and causes problems with my other employees. Unfortunately, she is key to my operation. Quite frankly, she does things that no one else, including me, knows how to do. I’d like to dismiss her, but I don’t feel like I can. What should I do?
ANSWER: Unfortunately, your situation is not uncommon. We’ve seen it many times. It is appropriate for small-business owners to hand off various tasks and responsibilities to others as their businesses grow. After all, you can’t do everything. If you want your business to grow, you must be willing to let go of some of the tasks you handled personally when the business was smaller. In most cases, this process works well. However, sometimes the person who has taken over critical duties becomes a disruption or problem within the business. When this happens, the business owner may be reluctant to make a personnel change, especially if he or she believes the business cannot function without this employee.
We have seen dozens of these situations. The business owner has a bookkeeper, operations manager or salesperson who is the only employee who knows how to do a critical function. This key employee begins to perform poorly, either in his or her duties, or more often behaviorally. The situation continues to worsen until the performance or behavior is unacceptable. However, the business owner is afraid to take action, fearing what will happen to his/her business without the employee. The owner believes that his/her business cannot function without the key employee and the knowledge and skills he/she possess. The owner is, in effect, held hostage.
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Inaction only makes the situation worse. The business often loses other employees or customers due to the key employee’s poor behavior. The owner feels powerless fearing that removing the employee will cause his/her business to fail. However, regardless of the short-term pain, no one is irreplaceable. The owner and business can get through this. For example, we worked with a company that lost its entire management team save one person in a tragic fire. Extraordinary effort was required, but the company survived and eventually thrived.
Realize that no one is irreplaceable: In all our years of business experience, we have learned that no one is irreplaceable. Your business may suffer some short-term setbacks. It may cost a bit more, and you will have to expend time solving the problem, but you can get through. In fact, we have never had anyone say, I should have waited a few weeks longer before letting him/her go. Instead, what we repeatedly hear is that the business owner wished that he/she had terminated the problem employee weeks, months or even years earlier. The termination often brings a collective sigh of relieve from everyone involved.
Find people to help you through the transition: There are services that can supply you with a temporary CFO, bookkeeper, operations expert or other key employees. These services generally cost more than your former employee did, but this is a sort-term fix. You can almost always hire a person with great experience in the functional area you need, even if it is only a consultant working on a temporary basis. You may have to fill in yourself for a few weeks or months, but this can help you to feel more comfortable in an area that you had previously abdicated to others.
Make a clean break: It can be very difficult to get the problem employee to train his/her replacement. You may think that you can bring in someone to learn parts of the job, thus easing the disruption to your business when you terminate the problem employee. However, in our experience, the entrenched employee most often will be unwilling or at least reluctant to help you take duties away from him/her. His/her complete control over the function has allowed the bad behavior without repercussions. Make a clean break. Ripping off the bandage will mean some pain, but again, you will get through it.
Don’t let this happen again: Before it occurs, you can reduce the impact of this type of situation with two steps. First, document your processes. If you document processes, it is easier for others to step in and take over tasks in the short term. Second, cross-train as much as possible. This spreads the company knowledge over more people. It takes a bit of planning and effort, but is completely doable.
As the saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If you find yourself with a key employee who is causing severe issues in your company, extricate your company and yourself from the situation. Don’t be a hostage. You can get through the short-term pain and get your organization back on track.
Doug and Polly White have a large ownership stake in Gather, a company that designs, builds and operates collaborative workspaces. Polly’s focus is on human resources, people management and human systems. Doug’s areas of expertise are business strategy, operations and finance. | https://richmond.com/business/local/ask-doug-polly-no-one-is-irreplaceable-at-work/article_c196adaf-2961-5a95-a156-c5613419bf87.html | 2022-06-05T00:25:46 | 0 | https://richmond.com/business/local/ask-doug-polly-no-one-is-irreplaceable-at-work/article_c196adaf-2961-5a95-a156-c5613419bf87.html |
The body of an unidentified male was discovered in the Appomattox River on Saturday morning, according to the Chesterfield County Police Department.
At around 8:15 a.m., Chesterfield police were called to the 21600 block of Chesterfield Avenue in Ettrick after a body was discovered partially in the river. The body was recovered with the assistance of Chesterfield Fire & EMS and will be transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Police continue their investigation. Anyone with any information should contact the Chesterfield Police Department at (804) 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at (804) 748-0660. | https://richmond.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mans-body-discovered-in-appomattox-river/article_466d898f-90e5-5265-adb1-012a6edc4ecc.html | 2022-06-05T00:25:59 | 0 | https://richmond.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/mans-body-discovered-in-appomattox-river/article_466d898f-90e5-5265-adb1-012a6edc4ecc.html |
Lorena B. Harris and a dog were pronounced dead at the scene.
According to police, the preliminary investigation revealed a Chevrolet Silverado driven by Dennis Vernell Johnson, 62, of Gloucester was driving west on River Road, crossed into oncoming traffic and sideswiped a Lexus SUV. The truck continued west, rear-ending a Ford sedan and pushing it into the eastbound lane, where an Audi SUV struck the vehicle, crashing through a fence.
The truck continued west, where it hit a Chevrolet SUV waiting to make a turn from Westhampton Parkway. The truck continued across an embankment and flipped onto its roof at South Ridge and River roads. Johnson then crawled from the vehicle.
He has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
1 of 32
Forest Hill Ave.
In October 1951, workers constructed a section of Forest Hill Avenue in South Richmond. The segment sits between Westover Hills Boulevard and Prince Arthur Road.
In February 1953, Richmond Department of Utilities workers used a 65-foot hook-and-ladder firetruck to install new lights on Broad Street after attempts to secure other ladder equipment from private companies had failed.
In May 1954, Scoop sniffed around the pet food aisle at a grocery store in Richmond’s West End. The store offered a large selection of pet foods, a relatively new concept for the era. The accompanying article said: “Gone, apparently, are the days that Fido took the scraps from the table and liked them.”
In September 1942, members of Richmond Hotels Inc. donated typewriters to the War Production Board and the Office of War Information in response to an appeal for businesses to let the government have any machines they could spare.
In August 1981, children enjoyed outdoor recreation at Camp Happyland in the Richardsville area of Culpeper County, not far from Fredericksburg. The Salvation Army started the camp in the late 1950s to improve children’s health through exercise and proper nutrition.
In March 1971, a crowd estimated at several hundred waited outside City Council chambers at City Hall in downtown Richmond. Residents of the recently annexed Broad Rock area were protesting the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s proposal for low-rent public housing in the area.
In March 1969, a sign went up to mark the site of Henrico County’s first permanent designated library, on Laburnum Avenue near New Market Road. On hand were (from left) Varina District Supervisor Edwin Ragsdale, library board trustee Mrs. F.M. Vaughan, library assistant Virginia Liles and county libraries director David Rowland. The library opened in December 1970.
In June 1969, a Trappist monk at the Holy Cross Abbey near Berryville in Clarke County began his daily meditation. The monks spent their days balancing quiet prayer, spiritual reading and manual labor.
In June 1956, the Rev. Lawrence V. Bradley Jr. of Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond and his secretary, Jean Bolton, got out the summertime heat beater: a simple cardboard fan. The pews were liberally stocked during the warm months because the church had no air conditioning.
In July 1959, the normally bustling downtown Richmond business district, including this stretch along Eighth and Main streets, was much quieter as motorists stayed home because of triple-digit heat.
In April 1966, Union Bag-Camp Paper Corp. officials oversaw manufacturing at a new plant in Chesterfield County. The facility produced millions of bags for supermarket chains and other clients on the East Coast. At the time, about 265 employees worked in two local company plants; the old factory at 13th and Canal streets in Richmond was open for limited operation until it was sold.
In March 1969, a sign went up to mark the site of Henrico County’s first permanent designated library, on Laburnum Avenue near New Market Road. The branch opened in December 1970. Posing with the sign were (from left) Varina District Supervisor Edwin Ragsdale, library board trustee Mrs. F.M. Vaughan, library assistant Virginia Liles and county libraries director David Rowland.
In August 1982, David Tidwell of Croaker posed with his girlfriend’s dog, Blazing Amber of Cinder, at the humorous “Norge Dog Station” at Norge Grocery on U.S. Route 60 west of Williamsburg. The sign had been put up seven years earlier, and the spot became a popular photo opportunity for visitors.
In March 1987, in preparation for new carpeting, the Dumbarton branch library in Henrico County had to remove about 80,000 books from shelves. About 50 people handled the first phase overnight — but restocking the shelves awaited.
This 1957 photo shows Collegiate School in the 1600 block of Monument Avenue in Richmond. The Town School elementary building was on the left and the high school on the right. In 1960, the Town School and the Country Day School merged, operating on the campus off River and Mooreland roads in Henrico County. It remains the location today.
In November 1970, a Richmond officer rode his horse by the police bureau’s new stables, which were under construction. The facility near Brook Road and Chamberlayne Avenue included eight stalls, a scrub area, a horseshoeing area and a tack room. The bureau had been looking for an established home for its horses since the mid-1960s, when the Virginia National Guard moved from the Richmond Howitzers downtown armory, where the horses had been stabled for two decades.
In March 1971, a crowd estimated at several hundred waited outside City Council chambers at City Hall in downtown Richmond. Residents of the recently annexed Broad Rock area were protesting the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s proposal for low-rent public housing in the area.
In November 1948, Army Lt. Charles D. Smith Jr. administered the oath to the first set of postwar draftees processed at the Richmond induction station at First and Broad streets. Several of the men were immediately sent to Camp Pickett in Blackstone.
In December 1938, Richmond Glass Shop had a new home at 814 W. Broad St., site of the old Ashland Railway Station. The shop, run by brothers Frank R. and A.G. Bialkowski, had glass of many types, and offered bath and kitchen installation, storefront construction and paint products.
In March 1979, corrections officer Howard Alexander held the homemade rope used by convicted murderer Michael Irwin Cross to escape from the State Penitentiary, then located along Spring Street in downtown Richmond. Cross was captured two months later after attempting to free a fellow convict who was being treated at Medical College of Virginia Hospital.
In June 1986, “Mr. Newspaper” greeted a young girl and her mother at a Richmond-area mall. The RTD mascot often traveled around town promoting the newspaper.
In July 1951, Alonzo Moore, 74, walked down a street in Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore and blew his horn, alerting locals to his sale of the fresh catch of the day.
In July 1960, the Schellenberg family of Highland Springs prepared to have a bomb shelter installed in their yard, one of Virginia’s first privately owned radiation fallout shelters. The enclosure was designed to accommodate up to six people during a nuclear attack. The horizontal steel tank (rear) was 7 feet in diameter and 16 feet long. Once installed, the only elements aboveground would be a domed entrance and air filter and exhaust pipes.
In June 1979, Terry Woo set bricks for a walkway as construction of Kanawha Plaza in downtown Richmond continued. The $4 million dollar city-financed plaza linked the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond building and the Virginia Electric and Power Co. building.
In June 1968, workers welded boilers at Old Dominion Iron and Steel Corp., located on Belle Isle under the Lee Bridge in Richmond. At the time, Old Dominion’s owner was interested in expanding operations, and the city was interested in using the island as part of a James River park. The company’s history on Belle Isle spanned from before the Civil War to the 1970s.
In November 1972, after the remnants of Hurricane Agnes had washed out a bridge, a barge carried vehicles and workers across the James River from Tredegar Street toward Belle Isle in Richmond. A day earlier, a welder for Old Dominion Iron and Steel Corp. drowned after a boat carrying him and others capsized on the same route.
This December 1973 photo shows the front counter in Roaring Twenties, a new restaurant and nightclub on state Route 10 in the Hopewell area. It was designed to resemble a 1920s speakeasy, with features including an antique cash register, a diving girl and even a dining table from Al Capone’s Florida home.
In October 1969, cadets at John Marshall High School in Richmond posed with their ribbon-bedecked sponsors after an awards ceremony. The school’s Corps of Cadets was established in 1915 — it was the first military training program in a public school in Virginia — and disbanded in 1971.
In May 1989, a transformer exploded under the sidewalk on the Fourth Street side of the Richmond Newspapers Inc. building downtown. The ensuing fireball charred two cars parked on the street and sent flames up the side of the building. No one was hurt in the nighttime explosion, and delivery of the next morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch (which was printed in the building) was only slightly delayed.
In August 1972, motorists approaching construction on Interstate 64 south of Bryan Park in Richmond were greeted by a robot signalman waving a bright red flag. “Silent Sam,” as the decoy was nicknamed, was used by the state Department of Highways to slow drivers as they neared workmen building an I-195 interchange and bridge near the Acca rail yards.
A look back at photos from the Richmond Times-Dispatch archives.
1 of 32
Forest Hill Ave.
In October 1951, workers constructed a section of Forest Hill Avenue in South Richmond. The segment sits between Westover Hills Boulevard and Prince Arthur Road.
times-dispatch
Ballet
In December 1990, a Richmond Ballet dancer stretched before rehearsal of “The Nutcracker.”
times-dispatch
street lights
In February 1953, Richmond Department of Utilities workers used a 65-foot hook-and-ladder firetruck to install new lights on Broad Street after attempts to secure other ladder equipment from private companies had failed.
Staff photo
Dog
In May 1954, Scoop sniffed around the pet food aisle at a grocery store in Richmond’s West End. The store offered a large selection of pet foods, a relatively new concept for the era. The accompanying article said: “Gone, apparently, are the days that Fido took the scraps from the table and liked them.”
Staff photo
typewriters
In September 1942, members of Richmond Hotels Inc. donated typewriters to the War Production Board and the Office of War Information in response to an appeal for businesses to let the government have any machines they could spare.
times-dispatch
Camp Happyland
In August 1981, children enjoyed outdoor recreation at Camp Happyland in the Richardsville area of Culpeper County, not far from Fredericksburg. The Salvation Army started the camp in the late 1950s to improve children’s health through exercise and proper nutrition.
times-dispatch
20160813_FEA_POD_p ++
In March 1971, a crowd estimated at several hundred waited outside City Council chambers at City Hall in downtown Richmond. Residents of the recently annexed Broad Rock area were protesting the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s proposal for low-rent public housing in the area.
TIMES-DISPATCH
Henrico County Library
In March 1969, a sign went up to mark the site of Henrico County’s first permanent designated library, on Laburnum Avenue near New Market Road. On hand were (from left) Varina District Supervisor Edwin Ragsdale, library board trustee Mrs. F.M. Vaughan, library assistant Virginia Liles and county libraries director David Rowland. The library opened in December 1970.
times-dispatch
Monk
In June 1969, a Trappist monk at the Holy Cross Abbey near Berryville in Clarke County began his daily meditation. The monks spent their days balancing quiet prayer, spiritual reading and manual labor.
TIMES-DISPATCH
Grove Avenue Church
In June 1956, the Rev. Lawrence V. Bradley Jr. of Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond and his secretary, Jean Bolton, got out the summertime heat beater: a simple cardboard fan. The pews were liberally stocked during the warm months because the church had no air conditioning.
TIMES-DISPATCH
Richmond Streets
In July 1959, the normally bustling downtown Richmond business district, including this stretch along Eighth and Main streets, was much quieter as motorists stayed home because of triple-digit heat.
TIMES-DISPATCH
Union Bag Camp
In April 1966, Union Bag-Camp Paper Corp. officials oversaw manufacturing at a new plant in Chesterfield County. The facility produced millions of bags for supermarket chains and other clients on the East Coast. At the time, about 265 employees worked in two local company plants; the old factory at 13th and Canal streets in Richmond was open for limited operation until it was sold.
TIMES-DISPATCH
Henrico County Library
In March 1969, a sign went up to mark the site of Henrico County’s first permanent designated library, on Laburnum Avenue near New Market Road. The branch opened in December 1970. Posing with the sign were (from left) Varina District Supervisor Edwin Ragsdale, library board trustee Mrs. F.M. Vaughan, library assistant Virginia Liles and county libraries director David Rowland.
Staff photo
Dogs
In August 1982, David Tidwell of Croaker posed with his girlfriend’s dog, Blazing Amber of Cinder, at the humorous “Norge Dog Station” at Norge Grocery on U.S. Route 60 west of Williamsburg. The sign had been put up seven years earlier, and the spot became a popular photo opportunity for visitors.
times-dispatch
Henrico County Library
In March 1987, in preparation for new carpeting, the Dumbarton branch library in Henrico County had to remove about 80,000 books from shelves. About 50 people handled the first phase overnight — but restocking the shelves awaited.
times-dispatch
Collegiate
This 1957 photo shows Collegiate School in the 1600 block of Monument Avenue in Richmond. The Town School elementary building was on the left and the high school on the right. In 1960, the Town School and the Country Day School merged, operating on the campus off River and Mooreland roads in Henrico County. It remains the location today.
times-dispatch
police stables
In November 1970, a Richmond officer rode his horse by the police bureau’s new stables, which were under construction. The facility near Brook Road and Chamberlayne Avenue included eight stalls, a scrub area, a horseshoeing area and a tack room. The bureau had been looking for an established home for its horses since the mid-1960s, when the Virginia National Guard moved from the Richmond Howitzers downtown armory, where the horses had been stabled for two decades.
TIMES-DISPATCH
City Council
In March 1971, a crowd estimated at several hundred waited outside City Council chambers at City Hall in downtown Richmond. Residents of the recently annexed Broad Rock area were protesting the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s proposal for low-rent public housing in the area.
Staff photo
draft
In November 1948, Army Lt. Charles D. Smith Jr. administered the oath to the first set of postwar draftees processed at the Richmond induction station at First and Broad streets. Several of the men were immediately sent to Camp Pickett in Blackstone.
times-dispatch
Richmond Glass Shop
In December 1938, Richmond Glass Shop had a new home at 814 W. Broad St., site of the old Ashland Railway Station. The shop, run by brothers Frank R. and A.G. Bialkowski, had glass of many types, and offered bath and kitchen installation, storefront construction and paint products.
times-dispatch
State Pen
In March 1979, corrections officer Howard Alexander held the homemade rope used by convicted murderer Michael Irwin Cross to escape from the State Penitentiary, then located along Spring Street in downtown Richmond. Cross was captured two months later after attempting to free a fellow convict who was being treated at Medical College of Virginia Hospital.
times-dispatch
Mr. Newspaper
In June 1986, “Mr. Newspaper” greeted a young girl and her mother at a Richmond-area mall. The RTD mascot often traveled around town promoting the newspaper.
times-dispatch
Cape Charles
In July 1951, Alonzo Moore, 74, walked down a street in Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore and blew his horn, alerting locals to his sale of the fresh catch of the day.
TIMES-DISPATCH
Bomb Shelter
In July 1960, the Schellenberg family of Highland Springs prepared to have a bomb shelter installed in their yard, one of Virginia’s first privately owned radiation fallout shelters. The enclosure was designed to accommodate up to six people during a nuclear attack. The horizontal steel tank (rear) was 7 feet in diameter and 16 feet long. Once installed, the only elements aboveground would be a domed entrance and air filter and exhaust pipes.
times-dispatch
Kanawha Plaza
In June 1979, Terry Woo set bricks for a walkway as construction of Kanawha Plaza in downtown Richmond continued. The $4 million dollar city-financed plaza linked the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond building and the Virginia Electric and Power Co. building.
times-dispatch
Cape Charles
In July 1951, two women enjoyed the white sand beach of Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
times-dispatch
boilers
In June 1968, workers welded boilers at Old Dominion Iron and Steel Corp., located on Belle Isle under the Lee Bridge in Richmond. At the time, Old Dominion’s owner was interested in expanding operations, and the city was interested in using the island as part of a James River park. The company’s history on Belle Isle spanned from before the Civil War to the 1970s.
times-dispatch/
Belle Isle
In November 1972, after the remnants of Hurricane Agnes had washed out a bridge, a barge carried vehicles and workers across the James River from Tredegar Street toward Belle Isle in Richmond. A day earlier, a welder for Old Dominion Iron and Steel Corp. drowned after a boat carrying him and others capsized on the same route.
Times-Dispatch
Roaring Twenties Roadhouse
This December 1973 photo shows the front counter in Roaring Twenties, a new restaurant and nightclub on state Route 10 in the Hopewell area. It was designed to resemble a 1920s speakeasy, with features including an antique cash register, a diving girl and even a dining table from Al Capone’s Florida home.
TIMES-DISPATCH
John Marshall Cadet Corps
In October 1969, cadets at John Marshall High School in Richmond posed with their ribbon-bedecked sponsors after an awards ceremony. The school’s Corps of Cadets was established in 1915 — it was the first military training program in a public school in Virginia — and disbanded in 1971.
TIMES-DISPATCH
Newspaper fire
In May 1989, a transformer exploded under the sidewalk on the Fourth Street side of the Richmond Newspapers Inc. building downtown. The ensuing fireball charred two cars parked on the street and sent flames up the side of the building. No one was hurt in the nighttime explosion, and delivery of the next morning’s Richmond Times-Dispatch (which was printed in the building) was only slightly delayed.
Times-Dispatch
Silent Sam
In August 1972, motorists approaching construction on Interstate 64 south of Bryan Park in Richmond were greeted by a robot signalman waving a bright red flag. “Silent Sam,” as the decoy was nicknamed, was used by the state Department of Highways to slow drivers as they neared workmen building an I-195 interchange and bridge near the Acca rail yards.
🚧Fatal Traffic Crash🚧 Henrico Police is currently on scene of a fatal multi-vehicle crash. River Road between North Ridge Road and College Road will be closed for most of the afternoon into the evening. Please find an alternate route if traveling the area. pic.twitter.com/B0QBqcgNG7
Henrico Police is currently on scene of a fatal multi-vehicle crash. Police said one woman was pronounced dead at the scene as well as a dog. River Road between North Ridge Road and College Road will be closed for most of the afternoon into the evening. | https://richmond.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/victim-identified-in-five-vehicle-crash-in-henrico-county/article_bb37cb1c-80ab-566d-b357-12e07b70ebf2.html | 2022-06-05T00:26:05 | 1 | https://richmond.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/victim-identified-in-five-vehicle-crash-in-henrico-county/article_bb37cb1c-80ab-566d-b357-12e07b70ebf2.html |
A 23-year-old man died Friday afternoon as a result of a collision on State Highway 158 west of Midland.
The Department of Public Safety reported that Diego Jay Cota of Artesia, New Mexico, was driving a 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe southwest on the north service road of Tom Craddick Highway. When Cota’s Hyundai reached SH 158, the vehicle “failed to yield the right of way” at the intersection, according to DPS. It was at that point that a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee carrying three people from Seminole struck the Hyundai.
DPS stated Cota, who was wearing a seat belt, died at the scene, and the three occupants of the Grand Cherokee were taken to Midland Memorial Hospital. The driver of the Grand Cherokee was in serious condition. The other two were in stable condition.
DPS reported that the crash took place around 4:48 p.m., 6 miles west of Midland. | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/DPS-23-year-old-dies-after-collision-on-SH-158-17219990.php | 2022-06-05T00:36:54 | 1 | https://www.mrt.com/news/local/article/DPS-23-year-old-dies-after-collision-on-SH-158-17219990.php |
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Larry Griffo was one of the many that drove to St. Mark Baptist Church on Saturday.
The event, hosted by The Mu Beta Sigma Alumni Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Inc. saw many people show up like Griffo, who actually dropped off an old shotgun that he's had for years.
"It was a family heirloom. It was handed down from my grandfather to my father, to me but we were in a different geographical area. They really serve no purpose in the city limits. There's no need for a shot gun," said Griffo.
He decided to give the firearm up because he fears someone burglarizing his property and didn't want it to be stolen.
Additionally, he has younger grandchildren and didn't want to risk what could possibly happen if they discovered the gun. These concerns are in addition to the worry he has about the violent gun crimes that have been happening not only in the city, but around the country.
"It's foolishness, it's deadly, and it's life changing. We're trying to do things now to try to change the future," he said.
Griffo has been wanting to dispose of the shotgun and thought a 'Gun Buy Back' event was the perfect way to do so.
This year alone, there have already been 35 homicides in Little Rock with a majority of the incidents involving gun violence.
This time last year, there were 30 homicides when the fraternity worked with Little Rock police and local churches to host their annual 'Gun Buy Back' event.
Their continued hope is that the effort will take more illegal guns off of the street that would otherwise later be used in a crime.
"If we can get one gun that's going to possibly save a life, stop a crime, it's worth it. We have to do something and this is the beginning of what we can do as brothers in the community to make a difference," said Larry Harris, fraternity president.
Harris said the process to give a gun is both quick and easy. People can simply arrive and hand over any guns, no questions asked.
After inspecting the gun to be clear of any bullets, the fraternity gives a $50-100 gift card to the person who dropped the firearm off.
The $50 gift cards for an inoperable gun and the $100 gift cards are for an operable one.
The fraternity then hands the guns over to undercover Little Rock police officers who process the gun before it's sent to be destroyed.
"We have to do whatever we can to help deter this because this is a problem that's affecting all of us," said Harris.
Glenn Hersey is the outreach pastor at St. Mark Baptist Church where they held the 2nd annual event. He's also a part of the fraternity.
He said in the wake of everything happening across the nation, the church is happy to help reduce any level of violence happening in the city.
"We want to thank the people who came out and lined up before the event even started to donate their guns," said Hersey.
Last year they collected a total of 17 guns, but this year they collected 40. | https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/little-rock/little-rock-hosts-second-gun-buy-back/91-b93397fb-a787-4833-b100-9ead433cf5c9 | 2022-06-05T00:37:12 | 0 | https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/little-rock/little-rock-hosts-second-gun-buy-back/91-b93397fb-a787-4833-b100-9ead433cf5c9 |
KINGSLAND, Ga. — Seller beware: one south Georgia man is out almost $50,000 dollars after selling his 2018 Camaro.
Police say Ethan Hines was duped.
In hindsight, Hines told First Coast News, he wouldn't have sold his car to a man he met on Facebook Marketplace.
"I really was hoping it wouldn't come down to this," he said. "I thought I could rely on a bank of all things, a credit union, telling me money is good. I can't."
Hines thought the buyer was legitimate. The $49,000 cleared the bank - it was a check by phone.
VyStar transferred the money to Hines' loan account and sent him a letter, explaining it had been paid in full.
However, four days later, that payment was reversed. He learned the check bounced and Hines was out the money -- and his Camaro.
He has this advice: "Once they say the money is there or once you see the check has started processing in your account, call them and find out what the maximum wait period is for a check to clear."
Hines filed a police report and was told the buyer's story and Facebook profile were 'fictitious.'
His girlfriend took pictures of the man they met when they drove to South Carolina to drop off the car. Police are investigating.
"As of right now, they have not ID'd him. They have not found any correlation between him and a potential gang or other people that have been arrested," Hines said.
We reached out to VyStar and they are looking into Hines' situation.
The Better Business Bureau warns of fake check scams - with these do's and don'ts.
Hines says he's learned his lesson and is now back on the hook for a $750 a month car payment for a car he doesn't have.
"I find it kind of hard to put $750 a month towards something I am never going to see again," he said. | https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/scam-cost-south-georgia-man-50000/77-e55f2037-1486-418d-b0a7-af12b8d51df7 | 2022-06-05T00:37:18 | 1 | https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/scam-cost-south-georgia-man-50000/77-e55f2037-1486-418d-b0a7-af12b8d51df7 |
Nebraskans gathered outside the state Capitol on Saturday for a March for Our Lives rally in response to the Texas school shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
March for Our Lives is a youth-led movement dedicated to promoting civic engagement, education and direct action to eliminate the epidemic of gun violence.
Students, teachers, counselors and family members shared the same concern — the lack of gun reform in the country. The nation has seen 237 mass shootings this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
Several attendees spoke to the crowd about their fear of sending a goodbye text to a parent or receiving one from their children.
One speaker at the rally voiced her excitement for graduation, acknowledging it could potentially not happen.
"The harsh reality students are faced with, is that walking across that stage and receiving a diploma is no longer guaranteed due to the rising gun violence."
One woman urged youth to reach out to the older people in their lives and share their concerns.
She advised them to approach others in coffee shops or other public spaces and share their stories. Their stories of the drills and tactics they learn in schools in case of an active shooter.
Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln took part in the rally, advising Nebraskans to vote for government officials with plans on gun reform.
"You have to go up to the candidates that are coming to your door and going to parades and get an answer on where they're going to stand on red flag laws, background checks and assault weapon bans," Morfeld said.
Evelyn Mejia is a news intern and current sophomore at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She covers breaking news and writes feature stories about her community. | https://journalstar.com/news/local/march-for-our-lives-nebraska-rally-calls-for-gun-reform/article_8a7a0a84-0953-562b-86d9-61d57e22e8d8.html | 2022-06-05T00:42:13 | 1 | https://journalstar.com/news/local/march-for-our-lives-nebraska-rally-calls-for-gun-reform/article_8a7a0a84-0953-562b-86d9-61d57e22e8d8.html |
HOBART — Becknell Industrial’s rezone request advanced an initial step with the City Council, but there are many residents who hope that’s as far as it will get.
The council voted 4-3 Wednesday to approve the first reading of an ordinance that would change the zoning of 156 acres of land at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street from a residential designation to a light manufacturing district. Councilmen Mark Kopil, Josh Huddlestun and P. Lino Maggio cast votes against it.
Residents who filled City Hall had a strong reaction after the decision. One person called the council members “cowards” while walking out of the council chambers. Another said, “shame on you,” after the vote.
The matter hasn’t yet concluded because the ordinance requires approval on a second reading to be finalized. The council could vote on the next reading during its June 15 regular meeting.
It appears Councilman Chris Wells remains undecided about the project. He said he will use the next two weeks to contemplate the matter.
People are also reading…
Wells said that denying the ordinance on Wednesday would “kill it completely,” but approving it provides more time to review all the information.
There have been many arguments in support of and against the project while it’s been discussed during recent months, and that was no different at Wednesday’s council session.
The development is proposed to bring 2 million square feet in speculative buildings, and the total investment would be around $220 million.
Paul Thurston, of Becknell, said the property is currently generating just under $7,000 in annual property tax revenue, and that figure would increase to more than $3 million each year after the complex is fully assessed.
“This is 10 years down the road,” Thurston said.
Infrastructure needs
About $7 million in fees would be paid to the city while development occurs. Becknell also has agreed to contribute $3.3 million for infrastructure improvements, which will include enhancements to Colorado Street and a roundabout at 61st Avenue.
The development also is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs. The number of permanent positions isn’t yet known because there are no tenants yet for the buildings.
Councilman Dan Waldrop said he initially struggled when considering his position on the project but then “refocused” and has stayed in favor of it.
Waldrop said property tax caps created a situation in which “raising revenue was pretty much locked in and the only way to kind of spur more is through development.”
City facing financial issues
Multiple factors besides tax caps have created financial issues in Hobart, including the property tax assessment appeal of the Southlake Mall.
Waldrop said the Becknell development won’t solve all of Hobart’s cash flow issues, but it’s one part of a long-term plan.
“This is what we need to do fiscally to try and plant the seeds for this thing to grow,” he said.
Those opposed to the development have said that they understand the city is facing financial struggles but that there are other ways to generate funding.
“We’re going to sell out our patrimony for an economic problem that’s coming, that’s real, but I don’t think we have invested the imagination, the enterprise and the faith in our community to solve this problem,” resident Joseph Conn said.
Mayor Brian Snedecor didn’t attend Wednesday’s session, but Conn read some of his statements from the May 4 council meeting. Snedecor expressed concerns about the project at that time.
“My concern moving forward on this project, at this point, at this time and at this location, I don’t think we’re ready from an infrastructure standpoint. ... I think that we still got work ahead of us,” Snedecor said.
Snedecor also said then that he’s not a voting member on the council and he doesn’t have veto power, but he would consider vetoing the rezone if he did.
'The right thing at the right time'
“Because I feel it’s important that we need to do the right thing at the right time, understanding that we have a lot of people that we have to answer to,” Snedecor said. “I trust this council will make the right decisions.”
Huddlestun said Snedecor made “powerful” remarks in May.
He said Snedecor made those comments after hearing all of the potential benefits of the development.
“He still felt confident to speak against the project, so it’s hard for me to go against him and his approach,” Huddlestun said.
Resident Viola Love said she has five generations of her family living in Hobart, and the youngest is about 8 months old.
“I couldn’t imagine all of that across the street for him,” she said of the proposed development.
Like others, she understands the city’s financial struggles, but she believes there are alternatives.
“We don’t have to sell out to a company,” she said.
Love and other residents said the youth in Hobart are the future of the community.
“Give them something to lift them up,” Love said.
She said she felt love, commitment and family when she moved to Hobart, and now she believes the proposed development is “tearing our community apart” and creating a division in the city.
“When you’re divided, you can’t accomplish anything,” she said. | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hobart/disputed-hobart-rezone-advances/article_8fb6b5b2-e2e9-5472-92ea-f4fb17a625c3.html | 2022-06-05T01:01:44 | 0 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hobart/disputed-hobart-rezone-advances/article_8fb6b5b2-e2e9-5472-92ea-f4fb17a625c3.html |
CEDAR LAKE — Two are dead following a crash late Saturday morning in Cedar Lake, with others injured.
First responders were called at 11:30 a.m. to a crash on U.S. 41 next to Uncle John's Flea Market, at 15205 Wicker Ave., said Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr.
Police said a car was traveling south on U.S. 41 when it attempted to cross northbound traffic to turn into the flea market. The car was then hit by a minivan that was heading north on U.S. 41.
All four individuals inside the car were taken to local hospitals, and the driver was later airlifted to the University of Chicago.
Two individuals have been pronounced dead from their injuries. Their identities have not yet been released pending family notification.
One of the car's occupants is an 11-year-old girl who is awake and in stable condition at the hospital.
The driver of the minivan was treated and released at the scene.
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- Police discover scars all over child while investigating mother accused in shooting
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- 1 injured after shots fired at Region apartment complex, police say
- Woman, two dogs saved from house fire sparked by neighbor's 'careless' fire pit, police say
- Teen dies, another seriously hurt in off-road vehicle crash
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- UPDATE: 1 airlifted after tree falls on vehicle, officials say
- Lake County sheriff aids in search for suspect after Chicago officer shot, police say
The crash is under continued investigation by the Lake County Reconstruction Unit.
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Get local news delivered to your inbox! | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/u-s-41-crash-kills-2-1-driver-airlifted-police-say/article_281475c3-354c-5911-a30f-97e63416ac0f.html | 2022-06-05T01:01:47 | 1 | https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/u-s-41-crash-kills-2-1-driver-airlifted-police-say/article_281475c3-354c-5911-a30f-97e63416ac0f.html |
Daytona's new Riverfront Esplanade finally opens. Here's what locals had to say about it.
DAYTONA BEACH — Despite some scattered showers, several dozen people turned out to celebrate the opening of the northside portion of the new Daytona Beach Riverfront Esplanade in downtown Daytona Beach on Saturday morning.
"I couldn't wait for it to open," said Daytona Beach resident Caroline Ricany, referring to the former city park which had been closed the past two years for an extensive makeover project entirely paid for by donations from local philanthropists Hyatt and Cici Brown.
"When my boys were younger, we used to come to help clean up Manatee Island (which is part of the new Riverfront Esplanade)," recalled Ricany. "Sadly, it used to be full of needles and homeless people. It's beautiful now. It's gorgeous."
Rebirth of Riverfront Park:North end of refurbished esplanade opening in downtown Daytona Beach
Previous coverage:Daytona Beach's $25 million Riverfront Park overhaul in full swing
Hyatt Brown is the chairman of Brown & Brown Insurance, whose 11-story headquarters building is directly across the street from the north portion of the new Riverfront Esplanade.
"The city didn't give a single penny on this, nor did any other government," said Hyatt Brown, referring to the makeover project, which was originally expected to cost $15 million, but is now likely to total at least $31 million upon completion of the esplanade's southside in November.
Brown's wife Cici described the project as her and her husband's "gift to the city." Their donation included $3 million which is going into a rainy day fund called the Brown Asset Reclamation Foundation Inc. to be used for future repairs in the event of a hurricane or flooding.
Hyatt Brown tested out the jogging path at the new Riverfront Esplanade on Saturday morning and was pleased to see the small, but gradually growing numbers of people including bicyclists and dog-walkers.
'A lot of blood, sweat and tears'
"It feels great," he said of seeing the project's first phase finally completed. "It's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears by a lot of people in order to get where we are. It's coming out much better than I expected."
In agreeing to undertake the project, the Browns created a not-for-profit organization called the Brown Riverfront Esplanade Foundation Inc. to overhaul and manage the former public park.
The park was renamed an "esplanade" at the suggestion of Daytona Beach city officials to allow it to become privately managed.
"We were highly encouraged by legal in the city to not refer to it as a park anymore because we want to be able to control attendance," said Joe Yarbrough, the former longtime city manager for South Daytona who came out of retirement to become manager of the new Riverfront Esplanade.
The city continues to own the 22.5 acre stretch of land that runs along the west bank of the Halifax River from Main Street south to Orange Street, but it is now managed by the Brown Riverfront Esplanade Foundation through a 50-year lease.
"It's no longer a public park," said Yarbrough. "It's an esplanade and because it's private now, we no longer have to put up with the tents and homeless population that was a significant deterrent to the public using it."
The makeover project did more than just clean up the former park. It also transformed what Yarbrough described as a flat expanse of land consisting of "dead grass" and overgrown bushes and trees. The esplanade now features series of small rolling hills, and new landscaping including the addition of dozens of mature replanted trees, many of which were personally picked out by Hyatt Brown.
The esplanade also has a walking/jogging/bicycle path, bridges, and a new dog park at the north end of the esplanade. Other amenities include both a north and south lawn "entertainment area" for live music, group classes and other festivities.
The city has agreed to provide a yearly reimbursement of $800,000 to help cover a portion of the esplanade's expected $1.6 million in annual maintenance and operational costs. The remainder of those costs will need to come from revenues generated by renting portions of the esplanade for special events, such as wedding receptions and private parties, as well as by hosting festivals and/or music concerts where admission fees can be charged.
Scheduled opening day festivities included a morning fun run/walk and a free yoga class led by Renew Yoga co-owner Melissa Smith, a longtime Beach Street merchant, who came with her husband Bryan and their dog Moka.
"This is exciting that we have this beautiful park for everyone to come out and enjoy," said Smith, who hopes the new esplanade will help draw more shoppers to downtown Daytona Beach. "I'm excited for the other end (of the esplanade) to open up."
Renew Yoga is located across the street from the south portion of the esplanade.
'We're so happy this is in our backyard'
Former Daytona Beach City Commissioner Kelly White and her husband Jack brought their triplet 6-year-old daughters Claire, Mae and Sarah to try out the new slide at the esplanade.
The couple, who live in downtown Daytona Beach, operate the Jack White Land Company which owns and manages several commercial properties in the city's historic business district. They have been involved in efforts to revitalize the area since the early 2000s.
"We're so happy this is in our backyard," said Kelly White. "It's beyond our wildest dreams."
Other planned opening day festivities included a Summer Kickoff Lawn Party from noon to 3 p.m. featuring free yard games, face-painting and an interactive DJ, and an Evening Lawn Chill event from 4 to 7 p.m. featuring a beer and wine garden and live music by a local musician known as Ace.
The esplanade will regularly host community events such as outdoor showings of movies and live entertainment. A schedule of upcoming events can be found on its website at riverfrontesplanade.com. In December, the esplanade will host a "30 Days of Christmas" event where the entire stretch from Main Street to Orange Avenue will be adorned in holiday lights and where festivities will be held on a nightly basis. The esplanade will also have extended operating hours that month.
While most of the esplanade will be fenced in with 37 entry gates, two portions of the former city park will remain open as public "forums," said Yarbrough: the Bethune Plaza at the east end of Mary McLeod Bethune Boulevard where a status of Bethune-Cookman University founder Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune will soon be erected, and the Veterans Plaza just north of the International Speedway Boulevard bridge.
A security crew will regularly patrol the esplanade grounds as well as monitor it via security video cameras to prevent people from illegally trespassing when it is closed at night.
Cici Brown said she and her husband visited parks throughout Florida to get ideas on how to transform the former Riverfront Park in a way that can be sustained.
It's no secret what the key to success is, she said.
"This park has been upgraded and brought to life on several occasions in its history, but every time it's gone down the tube because they (the city) haven't maintained it," Cici Brown said. "If we want this park to be a beautiful enjoyable place, we've got to take care of it." | https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2022/06/04/daytonas-new-riverfront-esplanade-opens-locals-offer-reactions/7502193001/ | 2022-06-05T01:20:22 | 0 | https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/volusia/2022/06/04/daytonas-new-riverfront-esplanade-opens-locals-offer-reactions/7502193001/ |
After the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers May 24, many people in the U.S. were reminded of the threat that students and teachers face as the list of mass school shootings in the U.S. continues to grow.
Many schools in Idaho regularly prepare for an active shooter event.
Jefferson School District 251 Superintendent Chad Martin said his district and many others are doing everything they can to prevent an incident like the Uvalde shooting.
“We’re as prepared as we can be. I don’t know if there’s a district or a building in America that can guarantee that something like that will never happen,” Martin said. “I can guarantee that we’re doing everything in our power to prevent something like that.”
Martin was the district's superintendent in May 2021 when a 12-year-old shot two students and one adult at Rigby Middle School. The victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Jefferson Joint School District Superintendent Chad Martin addresses the media during a press conference for the Rigby Middle School shooting …
The 2021 incident showed school officials in eastern Idaho that a violent gun incident can happen anywhere, even as Idaho is among the states with the least amount of school shootings.
“It was a horrible situation and as a community, a school district and individual teachers, it really made us reflect on what are our best practices,” Martin said.
Jefferson School District 251 has hired two additional school resource officers and safety monitors for school campuses. It also established visitor check-in requirements and implemented many mental health resources for students, including additional counselors and Hope Squads. Hope Squad is a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program and members are trained to be aware of their peers and watch for warning signs.
Gordon Howard, Bonneville Joint School District 93 Technology and Safe Schools director, said District 93 learned a lot from the Rigby Middle School shooting and has implemented many similar safety practices.
“Do we feel like we’re prepared? We think so,” Howard said. “We’re very cognizant that it could happen here. We don’t want it to, but we prepare all the time just in case.”
Howard said the district works with school resource officers from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office to develop lockdown and active shooter drills.
The district and sheriff’s office use a protocol called “move, secure, defend” and officers walk teachers through how to escape a building, secure a classroom or defend a location if needed during an active shooter situation.
Sgt. Bryan Lovell, the sheriff’s office public information officer, said six school resource officers and two DARE officers patrol District 93’s schools. The sheriff's office has practiced active shooter drills for decades and will train in school buildings when school is out of session.
Lovell said many law enforcement agencies have picked up active shooter training in the last 20 years as school shooting incidents have become more deadly and frequent.
According to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security / Naval Post Graduate School, 174 people were killed in school shootings from 1990 to 1999, which includes the 13 victims of the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. There were 96 killed from 2000-2009 and 162 were killed from 2010 to 2019.
In the last three years, 117 people have been killed in school shootings and the 42 school shooting deaths in 2021 and the 48 in 2022 are two of the three highest years for fatal school shootings in U.S. history, according to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security / Naval Post Graduate School.
Mass school shootings are not a new phenomenon, according to k12academics.com. The first known mass shooting in the U.S. where students were shot was on April 9, 1891, when 70-year-old James Foster fired a shotgun at a group of students in the playground of St. Mary's Parochial School in Newburgh, New York, causing minor injuries to several of the students. The majority of attacks during this time period by students on other students or teachers usually involve stabbing with knives or hitting with stones.
But school shootings have become more deadly in recent decades, and the type of semiautomatic rifles that have been used in the deadliest school shootings started entering the U.S. civilian firearms market in the late 1980s, according to a Violence Policy Center report. Shooters in each of the worst school shootings in U.S. history — Columbine, Sandy Hook and Marjory Stoneman Douglas — have involved semiautomatic weapons.
School shootings are devastating to their local communities and it’s important to be as proactive as possible in preventing them, even if they are rare occurrences, said Guy Bliesner, an analyst for Idaho’s School Safety and Security program.
“Any educator is two and half times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be involved in a school shooting, that’s the statistical reality,” said Bliesner, a former health, safety and security coordinator for District 93. “They are incredibly high impact but low frequency events.”
Kids talk about their experience after a school shooting at Rigby Middle School on Thursday, May 6, 2021. Three people were injured. Two child…
Bliesner said since the Columbine shooting, there has been an increased effort to secure school grounds and restrict visitor access.
District 93 is one example of this and district officials have worked to have a single point of entry at all of its schools, which would require any visitors to check in with the main office before entering the rest of the school. Howard said the district plans to address Hillcrest High School and Bonneville High School this summer, which are the two remaining schools that don’t have a single point of entry.
While District 93 is working to prepare for a situation like Uvalde, Howard said it’s difficult to know how prepared they are until an event like that happens, which he hopes it never does. There is a lot of effort from district staff and law enforcement to be proactive and prevent violent incidents from ever occurring, he said.
Law enforcement and school officials often use risk and threat assessments to intervene if a student or someone outside of a school’s community has said or posted anything online that may indicate a potentially violent situation. These assessments have often led to school officials intervening with a student having suicidal thoughts or stopping bullying and harassment.
District 93 recently implemented an online reporting system that students and parents can use by visiting d93.org/HelpAlert or by texting “@GETHELP” to 855-528-0074 and Jefferson has a similar tool for students and parents called the STOPit app.
“Is everything in place right now 100% foolproof? Nothing is 100% foolproof, but I would say we’re very well prepared in the areas that we work,” Lovell said. | https://www.postregister.com/news/local/are-local-school-districts-prepared-for-an-uvalde-like-event/article_2275855b-69c1-58d6-9f0a-a920b9bb882b.html | 2022-06-05T01:29:04 | 1 | https://www.postregister.com/news/local/are-local-school-districts-prepared-for-an-uvalde-like-event/article_2275855b-69c1-58d6-9f0a-a920b9bb882b.html |
After jurors convicted Frank Atwood for the 1984 kidnapping and murder of 8-year-old Tucson girl Vicki Lynne Hoskinson, jury foreman Andrew Bradshaw told the Arizona Daily Star, “We made the right decision, and we’ll never doubt it.”
His mind hasn’t changed in the 35 years since.
Bradshaw’s only lingering question about the case that shook the Old Pueblo: Why hasn’t Atwood’s sentence been carried out yet?
“I’m irritated as a father that it’s taken 35 years,” said the retired construction project manager and long-time Phoenix resident. “He’s lived a little over four times as long as that little girl, and he did it on our nickel.”
Atwood was convicted on March 26, 1987, and sentenced to die six weeks later. Of the 112 inmates on Arizona’s death row, only two have been there longer than him.
Barring a last-minute stay, the 66-year-old is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 8 at the Eyman state prison complex in Florence.
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“I find no pleasure in what’s about to happen to him, because there shouldn’t be any (pleasure) in it,” Bradshaw said. “I’m just one of those who believes it should have been done 30 years ago.”
Bradshaw was working as a hospital building operations manager when he was picked to serve on the jury for the high-profile case, which was moved from Tucson to Phoenix at the request of Atwood’s attorney.
After 10 weeks of testimony, the jury spent about 11 hours over three days reviewing the largely circumstantial case before reaching its decision.
Bradshaw remembers Atwood sitting there staring at him as the verdicts were read. No single piece of evidence convinced him of Atwood’s guilt, he said. “For me, anyway, it was everything.”
Bradshaw said his opinion of the death penalty hasn’t changed over the years, either. He believed in it then, and he believes in it now.
In this case especially, he said, “It’s justified and warranted and deserved.”
During the trial in 1987, Bradshaw and his fellow jurors were under strict instructions not to read any news accounts, so he had his wife clip stories from the local papers and save them for later.
He still has a scrapbook filled with those news clippings, though he said he’s barely glanced at it in the decades since the trial.
“I don’t even know why I’ve kept it all this time, quite honestly,” he said. “Probably, on June 9th, I’m going to burn it.”
A frantic search
Vicki Lynne Hoskinson vanished from her Flowing Wells neighborhood on the afternoon of Sept. 17, 1984, after riding her bicycle to the Circle K at Wetmore and Romero roads to mail a birthday card to her aunt.
Her 11-year-old sister, Stephanie, found Vicki’s pink bike lying on its side in the middle of a quiet residential street less than a quarter of a mile from their home. The blue-eyed girl with short curly hair and freckles was never seen alive again.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said the crime left an indelible mark on both Tucson and the sheriff’s department.
“Vicki Lynne is a name that you don’t have to say anything else. Just Vicki Lynne, and everybody knows,” said Nanos, who was a patrol deputy at the time, still in his first year with the department.
“This was a time when our agency wasn’t as robust as it is now,” he said. “I think we grew a lot with that case.”
Chief Deputy Rick Kastigar, now the department’s second in command, was a 29-year-old public information officer with the agency in 1984.
He said strangers abducting children was “very, very rare” back then — and still is today — but officers recognized almost immediately that “this was one of those rare events.”
“We didn’t have the resources we have now. We didn’t have the staffing we have now,” he said. “But we involved every element of our criminal investigations team and our patrol team looking for her.”
For weeks, Kastigar worked out of the command post investigators set up at Vicki’s school, Homer Davis Elementary, just across Romero Road from where her bike was found. He said he would get there early in the morning to be briefed by investigators, then spend the rest of the day updating the media and logging tips about the case.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies soon joined the search as well. As many as 70 people were working out of the school at one time, Kastigar said, not counting all the newspaper and television reporters or the local residents who wandered in looking to help.
“The upswell from the community was amazing. It truly was,” he said. “People were showing up with cupcakes, coffee, well wishes, flowers (and) positive sentiments” to comfort Vicki’s dad, Ron Hoskinson; mom, Debbie Carlson; and stepdad, George Carlson, who spent many anguished hours at the command post.
Grocery stores dropped off food and drinks for the search parties. Local business owners chipped in, sometimes anonymously, to print the girl’s picture on fliers and billboards and bumper stickers that read, “Don’t forget Vicki Lynne.”
Within three days of the girl’s disappearance, tips led authorities to arrest a suspect in her kidnapping: a 28-year-old drifter in Texas named Frank Jarvis Atwood, who was staying in Tucson at the time of her abduction. Four months earlier, Atwood had been released on parole in California after serving less than four years of a five-year sentence for kidnapping and sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy.
Meanwhile, the frantic search for Vicki continued, and so did the anxiety sweeping Southern Arizona.
“This community was afraid. There were a lot of unknowns,” said Kastigar, who had two young daughters at home back then. “They were just slightly younger than Vicki at the time, and it scared the hell out of me.”
On April 12, 1985, seven months after she disappeared, the girl’s skeletal remains were found scattered in the desert at the west end of Ina Road. There was so little left that the medical examiner could not determine how she died or what else might have been done to her.
Atwood soon faced one count of first-degree murder along with the kidnapping charge.
Though none of Vicki’s blood, fingerprints or hair was ever found inside of his car, forensic experts identified pink paint from her bicycle and a scrape from one of her pedals on the vehicle. Traces of nickel recovered from the bike were matched to the car’s bumper.
Authorities also had testimony from Atwood’s acquaintances, who saw him with blood on his clothes the afternoon of the abduction, and from a coach at Vicki’s school, who noticed a suspicious vehicle in a nearby alley that day and took down the license plate number for what turned out to be Atwood’s car.
All these years later, the case still stirs an emotional response in Kastigar — especially when he thinks about that innocent little girl, happily pedaling around her neighborhood with no understanding of “how vile and evil humans can be to other humans,” he said. “It’s just so sad to think of what likely happened to her.”
He expects Atwood’s death to bring some measure of comfort not just to Vicki’s family, but to those who were involved in searching for her and her killer, himself included.
“It’s a circumstantial case, but it’s very, very clear to me,” Kastigar said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we arrested the right guy, and that he is sitting awaiting his fate.”
Change of heart
Until about a month ago, George and Debbie Carlson were planning to skip Atwood’s execution.
Now Vicki’s parents are determined to be there to see things through, with emotional support from a number of their family members.
“We just changed our minds two or three weeks ago,” Debbie said Thursday from their home on the east side of Tucson. “Deep down, we wanted to see that final justice for Vicki, to be her representation there as her parents. I think that’s what it finally came down to.”
They were warned to expect a flurry of late filings and rushed court proceedings in the days leading up to the execution, as Atwood, his legal team and his supporters fight to keep him alive. That’s exactly what has happened so far.
On May 24, the Carlsons traveled to the state prison in Florence to help convince the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency to deny Atwood’s request to be spared. Then on Friday, they headed to Phoenix for a hearing on a petition arguing against the execution procedure on grounds that it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. A judge has not yet ruled on Friday’s effort.
They were still trying to decide whether to return to Phoenix on Monday for another hearing, this one challenging the clemency board’s decision based on how it conducted its meeting last month.
“Anything that’s going before a judge, we’re going, because I think it gives them a reminder that we’re still here and we’re still fighting for Vicki,” Debbie Carlson said.
It’s been a long fight.
The distraught young couple that appeared on the front page of the Star on Sept. 20, 1984, holding their missing daughter’s Cabbage Patch Kid, has now been married for 42 years. They have six grandchildren ranging in age from 6 to 21 — blessings delivered to them by Vicki’s two older sisters and younger brother.
Some of George and Debbie’s oldest friends are people they met while searching for their daughter, including several local detectives, the FBI agent who was assigned to their case and their advisor from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
At the Carlsons’ home, a piece of polished wood hangs above their dining room table beneath Debbie’s favorite Bible verse: “With God, all things are possible.” The wood was salvaged from a palo verde tree that was planted in Vicki’s honor at Homer Davis Elementary School in 1985 and grew for 30 years before it was blown down in a thunderstorm.
A lot has happened to Atwood in the past 35 years, too, despite his incarceration.
He got married in 1991 to a woman he began corresponding with shortly after his conviction. He has since been baptized in the Greek Orthodox Christian church and completed enough correspondence courses for two associate’s degrees, a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in literature. He even has his own website where he sells the books he has written behind bars on religion, criminal justice and his case.
A large group of supporters from Atwood’s church appeared at his clemency hearing, where he maintained his innocence but said he hoped his execution would bring peace to Vicki’s family.
The Carlsons just want it to be over.
“Enough’s enough,” Debbie Carlson said. “I’m 67 years old. George is 70. We’ve spent over half of our lives fighting for justice for Vicki.”
“We don’t know what normal is anymore,” George Carlson added. “I think we’re excited to experience that again. To be able to wake up in the morning and not have that cloud over you. Is the AG’s office going to call? Did he file another motion? Is there going to be another delay? We haven’t had that in 38 years.”
To them, Atwood’s death is a chance for a new life.
“I don’t like the word closure, because it’s never closed. We will never have closure, because we won’t have Vicki,” Debbie Carlson said. “But it will be a new beginning. We can close that chapter out, and we can start anew. That’s what we’re looking forward to.”
Photos: The search for Vicki Lynne Hoskinson in 1984-85
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Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@tucson.com or 573-4283. On Twitter: @RefriedBrean | https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/atwood-execution-date-stirs-memories-of-case-that-traumatized-tucson/article_8c307ce4-e1f3-11ec-ab55-2ffb109ec882.html | 2022-06-05T01:30:28 | 0 | https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/atwood-execution-date-stirs-memories-of-case-that-traumatized-tucson/article_8c307ce4-e1f3-11ec-ab55-2ffb109ec882.html |
DALLAS — A 14-year-old boy is dead and another teenager is injured after a shooting near a park in the Old East Dallas area, police say.
Police say they responded to the shooting just before 1 a.m. Saturday in the 4900 block of Alton Avenue, near Old East Dallas Work Yard Park.
According to police, officers found a 14-year-old boy who was shot in the head and a 19-year-old shot in the hand. Both were taken to a hospital, where the 14-year-old died, police say.
Details on what led to the shooting were not immediately released as police continue to investigate.
Anyone who may have information is asked to call police at 214-671-3623.
Crime Stoppers is also offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest and indictment. They can be reached at 214-373-8477. | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/14-year-old-killed-shooting-near-park-dallas/287-7c1fd97f-e79f-43e4-bf3f-8154f49f9d87 | 2022-06-05T01:31:25 | 1 | https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/14-year-old-killed-shooting-near-park-dallas/287-7c1fd97f-e79f-43e4-bf3f-8154f49f9d87 |
House fire extends to neighboring home near Meadowbrook Avenue and 7th Street in Phoenix
Haleigh Kochanski
Arizona Republic
The Phoenix Fire Department says two homes were burned in a fire in the area of Meadowbrook Avenue and Seventh Street on Saturday.
Fire crews responded to the scene at approximately 12:58 p.m. where they found a house fire that extended to a neighboring home.
After securing multiple supply lines, firefighters extended hose lines and attacked the fire.
"Fire control was achieved in less than 20 minutes," said Phoenix Fire Department in a statement.
The number of people who will be displaced is unknown at this time.
Reach breaking news reporter Haleigh Kochanski at hkochanski@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @HaleighKochans.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-breaking/2022/06/04/house-fire-extends-neighboring-home-phoenix/7517117001/ | 2022-06-05T01:51:26 | 1 | https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-breaking/2022/06/04/house-fire-extends-neighboring-home-phoenix/7517117001/ |
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